In the second episode of the sixth series of Doctor Who, there are: prison, tally marks, leaps, swimming pools, body bags, a dam, something in the corner of your eye, President Nixon, a spaceship, and virtually all of this makes little sense when you put it all together. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Doctor Who.
I don’t think I have ever been so frustratingly confused by an episode of television in a long time. Maybe ever.
I’m not sure I enjoyed “Day of the Moon†a terribly large amount, but that’s not really because it was a bad thing to watch, or that it was poorly written or acted. But this episode was never meant to satisfy much of anything at all that was introduced in “The Impossible Astronaut,†and, knowing I’m now on the exact same page as each one of you, it literally hurts when I think of how long I’ll have to wait to have most of my questions from the premiere answered, on top of all the new ones introduced here in the second episode.
I can’t imagine what goes through someone’s head when they decide to follow up that shocker of an opener, where we watch a future version of the Doctor get murdered, with an episode where we watch River, Rory, and Amy “die†in the cold open as well. Steven Moffat, my head cannot take much more brain-meltage. Thank you in advance.
As the trio of time travelers are all hunted down and Amy and Rory are collected and returned to the Doctor, I was absolutely lost as to where this episode was going. Why were they all covered in tally marks in Sharpie? Why were they all in different parts of the world? What happened to make Canton Delaware III suddenly turn on all of them? Did The Silence do something to him?
Perhaps the most frightening of all is the prison that is built for the Doctor, a set of jet black bricks that seal perfectly together by some unnamed technology, designed to prevent any particle from getting in or out through those walls. What had happened, I thought, that made them all turn on this group? Was it because Amy shot that little girl?
Do you notice that my review is comprised of a large bulk of questions so far? It’s not going to stop from here on out, FYI.
Thankfully, Canton reveals that he is not some brainwashed, evil entity when the door to the black prison is sealed, and the plan is made clear: The prison was built to keep everyone else out. After saving River from her fall by allowing her to jump directly into the TARDIS’S swimming pool (BLESS YOU FOR FINALLY USING IT, MOFFAT), the information FINALLY starts flowing to our desperate ears. The tally marks are the count of the number of The Silence each person saw, since they forget them the second they turn away. I love the suggestion presented here that’s so much creepier than seeing them: The Silence are everywhere. They have been here for a long, long time. (Note: Rory had the most markings, correct? Poor dude. Ugh.)
The vast majority of “Day of the Moon†runs with this point and it’s one of the tensest (and strangest) episodes the show has ever given us. As if the tally marks weren’t already a pretty unsettling point for the show to focus on, the Doctor introduces yet another small detail that will probably plague my nightmares in the near future. He implants each of the occupants in the TARDIS with a miniature device that records sound when it is activated by the touch of a finger. He instructs them to activate the device when they see The Silence and immediately begin describing them so that they can start to attempt to identify what they look like.
Even on just that point alone, the Silence are one of the more unique creatures I’ve come across on a sci-fi show. Obviously, we know what these monsters look like, but because of the nature of their defense mechanism, no matter how many times they look at them, the characters will never remember a single detail about what they look like. That is so…frustrating and frightening! And I think a great deal of the reason why I wasn’t leaping with joy throughout “Day of the Moon†isn’t because this is not a brilliant slab of writing–for the most part, it truly is–but because the situation DRIVES ME UP A WALL. It’s an endless cycle of terror that IS CONSTANTLY FORGOTTEN. Brilliant, but honestly, it tests my patience.
You can even see the same sort of response in the Doctor, moreso than anyone else in this episode. He’s never faced an enemy that he can’t remember, that he doesn’t fully understand, that he cannot fight because he doesn’t even know when he last saw them. Now that is a really creepy thing to me, and Matt Smith deserves praise for the wonderful way he manages to convey this frustration amidst a lot of his goofy humor and his desperate need to save Amy.
The first example of this is in the scene in the TARDIS, just after he instructs his friends on how to record the Silence. Canton begins to awkwardly adjust the Doctor’s bow tie for no reason at all, and we realize that we, as the viewers, have also been tricked. What works so fantastically about this scene is that the way the scene is ordered, we never see the first time Canton spots the hologram of The Silence, because…well, we would have forgotten it. So we’re left completely off guard, since we probably all expected to see the recorders in use much later in the episode.
Moffat then adds ANOTHER LAYER OF CREEPY to The Silence by showing how they are able to use this weird perception filter as a form of post-hypnotic suggestion. During the moment that the brainwaves are being affected by The Silence, the Doctor tells Canton to turn around and straighten his bow tie, and once Canton does, he obeys the Doctor to a T without the slightest thought.
Yeah, who else understood The Silence EVEN LESS at this point?
As they all split up to investigate further into the world to find out more about The Silence, Amy’s story takes a bizarre and unbelievable turn for the strange. The pregnancy line from the end of “The Impossible Astronaut†is explained away by Amy early on in this episode, as she says she was just “mistaken.†I thought that the pain The Silence seemed to inflict on people (like River in that tunnel below the ground in Florida) was the explanation for that, but…well, I can’t talk about that yet! I’m getting ahead of myself.
Amy decides to tag along with Canton as the Doctor, Rory, and River head to NASA to do some unnamed project at the time. The two of them are investigating children’s homes near the site at the end of “The Impossible Astronaut,†and it’s clear that they’ve got the right house when they step inside and messages are sprawled in red throughout the house (blood???) and on the body of the strange, strange man who cares for the place. There are no children here, as the place is empty and was closed down two years before. But the man who runs the place believes that it is still 1967 and, like many details in “Day of the Moon,†this is left unexplained.
That’s ok. Because this house hides the worst secret ever and is easily the most frightening encounter with the Silence. As Amy separates from Canton to do more exploring (WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT), she encounters a door that locks itself. In an instant, the recorder in her hand is blinking, and it advises her to do exactly what the messages on the wall say: Get out. Discovering that she’s covered in tally marks and that her message to herself says that she thinks “they†are sleeping, Amy looks up in horror to the ceiling to find it COVERED WITH THE SILENCE, ALL OF THEM SLEEPING.
NO. NO, THANK YOU. Also, are they descendents of bats?
From this point on, I don’t know how to describe, yet alone explain what happens here. I don’t know what the room is with the woman with the eyepatch, and why the door changes, or why THERE IS A PHOTO OF AMY HOLDING A SMALL CHILD AMONGST THE PHOTOS OF THE GIRL FROM THE ASTRONAUT SUIT. What? WHAT?!?!?!?!?!
I DON’T UNDERSTAND. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE. I THOUGHT AMY WASN’T PREGNANT. AND OH GOD, THERE ARE CREATURES IN THE ROOM AND SO IS THE GIRL IN THE ASTRONAUT SUIT AND THEN IT CUTS AWAY AND FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
I don’t understand this house. I don’t understand why it’s there, and why that man is there, and why he thinks it is 1967, and why he needs to protect the “child,†and why that girl is inside of the spacesuit, and WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS GOING ON.
I do know this: I am so glad someone shot one of those things. Bless your heart, Canton Delaware III. You make me proud to be an American.
LET’S MOVE ON TO THE DOCTOR. Everyone, he broke into the Columbia. Seriously, the Doctor is my favorite thing of all time forever and ever until the end of forever. And he’s right, there always seems to be that extra part left over.
This episode also utilizes Richard Nixon in a refreshingly hilarious way, because as frustrating and tense as “Day of the Moon†is, it really, truly needs some humor. Also, does Nixon count as a companion now??? THAT IS PRETTY AWESOME.
Exactly what the Doctor was doing at NASA is largely unexplained at the time, as expected, and there’s no time for such details when Canton notifies the Doctor that Amy has gone missing. When they find her recorder, which has defaulted to a live feed, my mind wandered to “Silence in the Library†and “The Time of Angels†/ “Forest of the Dead,†where a disconnected, distant voice was used for emotional tension. Out of all of them, though, this one (almost) proves to be the most heartbreaking. We got hints of it in the series six premiere, but for the remainder of this episode, I was pleased that so much of the emotional turmoil focused on Rory, whose life has been altered so dramatically by the appearance of the Doctor, and not always in the most positive ways. (I’m reminded of Rory’s scolding of the Doctor in “The Vampires of Venice†here.) He’s lost Amy YET AGAIN, and Arthur Darvill seriously knocks it out of the park in his scenes in this episode. You can see that he is just plain exhausted from all of this traveling, that he is tired and irritated by how often his wife seems to go missing or get into trouble. But this episode introduces a second subplot about how Rory believes that Amy will never feel for him in the same way that she feels about the Doctor. It really is heartbreaking to watch, and I think the scene in which the Doctor asks Rory about the two thousand years he waited for Amy is Rory’s best, a great slab of character growth and depth for him, and it gives me hope that we’ll see more of him in the future.
“Day of the Moon†largely corroborates a bunch of theories about where The Silence appeared in series five, from Prisoner Zero’s warning, to the message in “The Vampires of Venice, to the ship in “The Lodger‖!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!–and I think it’s safe to say the other appearances in “The Eleventh Hour†and “The Pandorica Opens†are intended to be hints towards The Silence. But, of course, I have questions: What does the girl in the suit have to do with The Silence? Why was her suit designed like that? Why do The Silence need Amy to “bring the silence†into the world? Why her specifically?
The end of “Day of the Moon†completes the details of the plan the Doctor had started at NASA earlier and fulfills his statement about more happening in 1969 than people could remember, and while this is immensely satisfying, I knew once the Doctor activated that hacked message from the wounded Silent that this episode was going to ignore the larger questions. I don’t think we’ve seen a series-long mythology so openly and blatantly addressed like this, but I can’t imagine anything else that could span series six than the gigantic set of mysteries unlocked in this epic two-parter. The Doctor manages to neutralize The Silence by using their ability of post-hypnotic suggestion against them–“You should kill us on sight‖but they are not definitively gone by any means. They must return to hiding instead, and surely there’s no better creature that could hide in plain sight quite like The Silence, right?
Just to state it plainly here in the review: River Song is an eternal badass, and I cheered when she gunned down so many of The Silence without breaking a sweat. I like cheering. Cheering is cool. I don’t get to do it often.
As the characters return to their lives, “Day of the Moon†continues to deliver more shocking revelations: Canton Delaware III is gay. (ABOUT FUCKING TIME THERE WERE SOME QUEER CHARACTERS IN MOFFAT’S WHO.) The Doctor and River share a (somewhat?) passionate kiss, and it’s drenched in heartbreak. The Doctor is surprised by the kiss, since it’s the first he’s ever received from her, but River realizes that, because of the nature of their time traveling lives, it’s her last from him.
Crying a river right now, y’all.
Back in the TARDIS, Rory realizes that in an earlier scene, Amy’s call outs to the man she loved were actually about him, which was the first time in all of “Day of the Moon†that I felt any sort of relief. Because NO THANK YOU to Amy falling for the Doctor and leaving Rory. I WILL FIGHT TO AVENGE RORY’S BROKEN HEART. And by “fight†I mean “yell on the Internet into a void.†Still, Rory has a point: Why didn’t Amy tell him she thought she was pregnant? Amy tries to rationalize this as worry, since she didn’t know if the TARDIS would give the child “multiple time heads.†(Which….ok, the first place my brain went was that old serial “City of Death†with Romana as a clock for a head in that drawing that stranger drew. SORRY I COULDN’T HELP IT.) I’m just worried about Rory and Amy’s relationship if she can’t trust Rory as much as she trusts the Doctor. Don’t get me wrong. The Doctor seems incredibly trustworthy to me, but it’s just a strange dynamic.
The final two moments of this episode are…..fun. First, the Doctor runs a pregnancy scan on Amy, and there’s no definitive result. OF COURSE. But let’s just talk about that final scene, far away in New York City, where the mysterious girl from the suit walks into an alley and tells a homeless man she is dying.
“…but that’s okay, because it’s easy to fix.â€
And with those words, SHE BEGINS TO REGENERATE.
My head. I can’t. I JUST CAN’T. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE. WHAT THE HELL.
And throughout all this, I recognize that there was a LOT of good writing in “Day of the Moon,” some new character seeds spread about to explore all four of these characters, and the mythology of series six laid out bare for all of us to ponder and dissect. I love that. I really do. My desire to see more Doctor Who is absolutely cemented at this point, but, on its own, it was hard to watch this episode and appreciate some of the finer elements. So, aside from a few rare moments, I didn’t feel utter joy at the concept. I think that, in the future, once I know all of the details of this series’ arc, I’ll be able to revisit “Day of the Moon” and laugh and giggle and appreciate the pure joy of watching Moffat tease us with so many clues.
But for right now, all my brain is doing is this: ;AKLDFJS :I ;ALKSDHDFHKLS IOU#&!(@#$ RHJ DFDF:KLHJ FDUH UY AD DFLJHS U DFUHSDF JLDSKHDFHJS
THOUGHTS
- I love when the Doctor tells Nixon to say “Hi†to David Frost. LOL. SPOILERS.
- We haven’t seen the Doctor taste something to determine more information about it in a long time! I wonder what TARDIS blue tastes like.
- AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THE DOCTOR WATCHED THE MOON LANDING FOUR TIMES IN “Blink†AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
- Again, this episode utilizes so many places in America quite well. But aside from the few scenes with Amy and Rory out in the desert, this episode is visually a much, much darker outing than the first one. THEMATIC CLUE Y/Y/Y/Y/Y/Y/Y
- “What kind of Doctor are you???” “Archaeologist.”
- “Safe? No, of course you’re not safe. There’s about a billion other things out there just waiting to burn your whole world. But if you want to pretend you’re safe just so you can sleep at night… Okay. You’re safe. But you’re not really.â€
- MY MIND HURTS. I don’t understand any of this at all WHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYY
I feel it necessary to say this. I quite often walk into a room and then completely forget why I went in there. I watched the moon landing footage when I was about eleven for school. Logically, this means that since then, I have killed countless Silence (Silents? how do you pluralize?). I am surprisingly okay with this, because, well, the Silence.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/23A8Y.gif">
All right, let me get the things that I didn't like out of the way first. The entire beginning of this episode felt rushed and confusing. It essentially seemed to be an excuse to have a DRAMATIC DRAMA OPEN, what with the jumping off the building and the getting shot. What happened in those three months? Did Amy and Rory literally just run around in the same clothes? Why was River wearing (an admittedly awesome) sparkly dress? How did they not die when they were shot? It would have only taken a couple seconds to explain what the hell was going on, and it would have taken me less time to get into the episode. It felt like the Silence were wrapped up too nicely and neatly, not even getting into the fact that the Doctor just caused an entire race to commit genocide (even if they did possibly make his TARDIS blow up and destroy the universe). Also, Moffat. STOP IT WITH THE IMPLYING LOVE TRIANGLE NONSENSE. Of all the romantic tension clichés, the love triangle is the one that annoys me the most. I thought we had resolved this already! How much more can all of our hearts take, especially Rory's?
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Look at him! So dapper. And doing the British salute (open hand, palm outward) as opposed to the American salute (hand at a 90 degree angle, palm facing down). But he's Rory, so he can do whatever the fuck he wants. Anyway, despite my problems with this episode, I found this to be an enjoyable two-parter, and I can't wait for more. I guess if I can enjoy something, I can overlook it's flaws much more easily (this accounts for my love of Deadly Premonition and Street Fighter: The Movie, but why I don't like Heavy Rain and The Forbidden Kingdom). We have all the hallmarks of a great Doctor Who episode- (mostly) strong writing, interesting characters, plots that explain and surprise, and little moments of Fridge Brilliance and Horror. And River Song being a badass.
<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lj1umqmPOG1qa7z1so1_400.gif">
SO MUCH MIND-BENDING GOODNESS. The poor man at the orphanage, the Doctor breaking into the Columbia, Canton shooting the fuck out of the Silent… yes. So many questions were answered, and yet so many were left hanging, but I think I kind of like it that way. I like mystery and convulsion, provided they eventually get explained. Also, the romance! River/Doctor kiss was adorable and awkward and saddening all at once. Rory and Amy continue to be a very realistic and sweet couple. My heart pretty much leapt with glee when Canton confirmed what half the fandom had jokingly guessed- he wanted to marry a black man. omg Canton plz show up more. You can bring you husband/partner with you! And bless the Doctor, he's trying to run away from the plot. A valiant effort. (No, he pretty much says "We can go investigate the Silence and all that, or we can go party through space with time bananas. I'm thinking the time bananas.")
Oh wait, Amy appears to be having a quantum pregnancy with Schrödinger's baby. That's a thing. And then… the little girl. Who appeared to be regenerating. WHAT IS THIS MADNESS. EXPLAIN. OH I AM EXCITE.
Fun note: go to footage of the first moon landing on Youtube. Watch as the comments at slowly taken over by Whovians, wondering why they're covered in marks, or blood, or why there gun is missing a bullet, or why they suddenly feel murderous. Watch everyone else be summarily confused.
<img src="http://i.imgur.com/oUbVz.jpg">
(Also, if anyone can tell me who these made these gifs, please tell me! It certainly wasn't me, and I hate depriving people of the proper credit- I just found them in my internet trawlings, without any credit by them.)
Love triangles can diaf.
(Hah, I used the same River Song gif, and linked the source in my comment. And the second gif has the credit in it.)
Inorite? Love triangles were part of the reason I hated Twilight. Well, besides everything else.
(It's an excellent gif, thanks for letting me know who made it! And I totally missed the credit in the second gif. But now I know.)
Oh, hey, I think I figured out where that Steve macro came from: looks like it's from reddit
(I saw a tumblr post with it, then went to the original poster, who linked the source as reddit. And the macro actually has a lot more frames than the one you posted.)
That entire thing is complete and utter hilarity. Thanks for directing us to the original!
Eff yeah doctor who reddit!
That last picture is perfect. 😀
I can't answer most of your questions, but I thought that the reason they didn't die was because it was Canton who shot them and he shot them with a sleeper dart type thing rather than a bullet. I don't think that was confirmed though, I just assumed it.
I just assumed Canton used blanks.
Blanks and sleeper darts both make a lot of sense- I'd sort of guessed blanks. It just really through me out of episode.
God, Rory looked so dapper in that outfit.
LOL! the youtube thing is so funny!
lol I saw the goddamnit Steve one on tumblr, I love it
Many great and beautiful things come from tumblr.
One of the characteristics of the Doctor was that he always gives people a chance – even daleks and the like, who would never change, he tends to try and get them them to stop. With the Silence, he just activated their extermination without any sign of remorse.
But why? They're not evil. They killed one woman in the first part (which was stupid – she would have forgotten – and already had – and if it was to scare Amy she would forget afterwards anyway) and from what they said it sounds like they've contributed to the advancement of man, from the wheel to the space shuttle. Thanks Doctor, we had a secret race making us awesome, now they're all dead and we have to work out this brain-hurty stuff for ourselves 🙁
First off, I think extermination might be a bit much. I have a lot of trouble believing that… what, all humans violently murdered the Silence with their bare hands? Considering that we've seen the Silent in 2011 (Amy's sighting), they're probably still here, if in smaller numbers. And besides, they've probably made spaceships. If they're really that scared of humanity (and quite frankly, they deserve to be scared, considering how disdainful they've been before), they can use their own abilities, make a spaceship, and fly away.
Second, I'm not sure the Silence aren't evil. In the very least they're not good. Killing the woman may have been stupid, but it was also cruel, and yes, I think it was evil. They weren't planting ideas in humanities head for the good of humanity or to improve them. The Silence were using the human race (and possibly others) for their own ends. Humanity was essentially the Silence's slaves. And what, wouldn't humans be able to come up with interesting ideas on their own? Also worth noting is that the Silence are implied (and the Doctor seems to agree) to have taken control of the TARDIS, caused it to blow, and nearly destroyed the world. That's never a good sign, and would probably cloud the Doctor's judgement.
To finish- I don't necessarily agree with how the Doctor went about doing his. But he was simply trying to put things on an even level. I'm all for morally ambigious characters and perhaps my opinion will change as the season goes on, but I do think that getting humanity out from under the control of the Silence was a good thing.
So killing an innocent woman who would have forgotten them was stupid, not evil? Oh, okay. Torturing the orphanage doctor for no clear reason was not evil either, I guess.
I forgot about the poor orphanage man! Oh, he kind of broke my heart. Particularly the writing on the wall- it was made fairly clear that he'd written that in attempt to warn himself. But the Silence messed with his mind so much… oh, now I'm sad.
Ugh, this. He scared me so much when I first watch it, I thought he was using the children or something weird. Then I got what the warnings meant when I rewatched it. He just breaks my heart, I hope he was rescued from that place.
It's like he's had the Harry Potter Memory Modifier charm put on him too much. 🙁
Well you know what Mark said:
â– AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THE DOCTOR WATCHED THE MOON LANDING FOUR TIMES IN “Blink” AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Which I hadn't even remembered but that would explain why he basically started plotting their demise the moment he saw them.
<img src="http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac22/xLiveLoveTossx/steve.gif">
I approve of the Silence who said "YOU SHOULD KILL US ON SIGHT" being named Steve. It's a very "YOU DUN GOOFED" name.
<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkhwpoQX5k1qd362ko1_500.jpg "/>
<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lki3x0NhgW1qzgkpco1_500.jpg "/>
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“I wasn’t sure who you were talking about, you know… me… or…”
“HIM?”
“Well, you did say he dropped out of the sky.”
“It’s a figure of speech, moron!”
OMG Royal wedding shot…BRILLIANT
Short version: This and The Impossible Astronaut put together may just be the best bit of sci-fi I’ve seen for years. Love that it’s proper dense story-telling while still being accessible to the family audience and can’t WAIT to go back through it all at the end of the series and see how it all fits together.
Long version: The lovely thing about Who is it can do virtually any style and still feel like a Who episode and that just about sums this two-parter up for me. It has the feel of something a bit more cerebral than normal, more of a Babylon 5 or a Battlestar Galactica if you will, and it plays beautifully. Some of the questions from last series are answered, a whole batch of new ones brought into play, the characters moved on and, best of all, we get The Silence….
And good lord did Moffat deliver with them! It’s an incredible idea and it would have been so easy to have just a small group coming to Earth and looking to invade. Instead the whole thing gets turned up to 11 and it’s clear that this is a HUGE threat and one that isn’t dealt with by the end of the episode. Oh, Earth might be very dangerous for them now but that doesn’t cover the rest of the universe and let’s not forget Vampires in Venice: “Through some [cracks] we saw Silence and the end of all things”. Or, for that matter, the network of underground tunnels all over the planet and their TARDIS-Lite’s. No doubt they’ll be back and they’re genuinely creepy and, IMO of course, have more than enough about them to carry future stories.
The resolution was great too and, as always with Moffat, we get a load of classic moments along the way. River’s dive into the swimming pool certainly rates up there, as does the prison in Area 51, the (sadly brief) NASA scenes and pretty much all of the Utah scenes (good lord was that money well spent). The Doctor was written damn near perfect too, in fact I was getting serious 7 vibes there with the whole Chessmaster thing going on, more please! Plus, note to bad guys, do NOT threaten Amy! It’s a bad idea and leads to the Doctor setting up a kill on sight policy regarding your entire species.
Rory and Amy continue to be my favourite pairing since the show came back, largely because they feel so damn REAL. No, they’re not perfect, yes Amy can be a bit too flippant and Rory can be very insecure but that just adds to the texture of those characters as far as I’m concerned and it’s obvious they both care for each other a great deal. And then we have the orphanage which might just be the creepiest we’ve seen Who since it came back, aided and abetted by some superb direction and editing so that the audience is pulled into the story.
Which leads me onto my one acting comment here: Everyone is bringing their A game so far but Karen Gillan is delivering on an epic level so far this series. Her on-camera stuff was great, especially the Orphanarium and the tender stuff with Rory, but the voiceover work for the ‘live transmission’…. god, genuinely chilling, especially as it went on for days in the storyline. Top top marks.
I’ll leave the cliffhanger for now other than to say WTF??!?!?!?! Plus is it wrong that I find it quie funny Amy seems to be carrying Schrodinger’s baby? Oh, and oddly, called the regeneration! Granted it was a complete fluke but in the Ep1 review thread here: http://markwatches.net/reviews/2011/04/doctor-who… – “Of course knowing Moffat we’ll come back next week to find a bullet hole in the Astronaut and regeneration energy spilling out all over the place! ” I’m now officially worried about the state of my brain…
I think the main reason I liked this episode was pretty much how you described. I liked the comparison to Babylon 5 especially, because I think it did have that same kind of ending – where the immediate danger is dealt with, but there are still more questions that need to be answered later. I know the creator of B5 said that it was his aim to make every episode be important and have an effect on the story and characters – that at the end, something should have irrevocably changed.
I feel like before this, Doctor Who sometimes tries too hard to return things to the status quo at the end of each episode. It's not really a complaint, but this one left things nicely undone and unexplained and that just makes me more excited to see what happens next!
I'm really glad Doctor Who is taking a bit of a different direction with this season, it's kind of refreshing!
I feel like before this, Doctor Who sometimes tries too hard to return things to the status quo at the end of each episode.
Actually, I think what I loved about this episode's ending is that it actually is both a progression forward and a return to the status quo. There are clearly questions that need answered, and the Doctor addresses this, but he also deflects it. He's all, "So, should we head straight into sorting things out, or should we have some adventures first? Let's do an adventure!" Of course, random adventures are what counts as status quo for this program. So an episode ending that gets to be traditional and modern at the same time? Well played, Moffat. Well played.
Heh, I suspect that the ending might, just might, have been tweaked a tad as the next episode was originally scheduled to be episode… 9 I think. So I wouldn't be surprised if the new episode 9 had a more direct silence reference. Also I've been looking forward to the next episode ever since photos of shooting came out… consider this a warning of incoming squeeeeee.
And to completely take this wonderful post into the shallow end: Did you see Amy's hair? Seriously, how is it possible for it to get even more gorgeous!? I am seriously jealous and I don't usually get jealous about white girl's hair.
Yes, yes I did. Somehow it stays fabulous even in the way harsh direct lighting during the big confrontation. Of course his is coming from someone who suspects Karen can make a potato sack look stunning so not an entirely unbiased view…
I actually felt the same way about River's hair. It's so curly! I have the straightest hair you will ever see and I'm always consumed with jealousy when River comes on screen!
Even the Doctor said she had great hair! 😉
LOL, I have River hair, except it's longer and darker, but I totally envy Amy's hair. I've always wanted red hair.
Being a black woman with a gigantic fro, I am awed by River's white girl fro. It's stunning and magnificent. She has wonderful curls. 🙂
Haha yup I have naturally curly hair and if my hair behaved as awesomely as River's I Would Let It Stay That Way.
All you need is some love from naturallycurly.com I bet you could achieve River hair!
Awesome review, Stephen, I agree 100% with it!
THEORIES ABOUND
I'm calling that that's Amy in the spacesuit, eventually.
"My life in your hands, Amy Pond …"
ahhhhhhhhhhhh! Oooh, I like (sort of hate, but you know, like) that idea! Great memory/reinterpretation of that line!
Oh man, don't say that. I will cry ALL OF THE TEARS.
Didn't he say Amelia, not Amy?? Which I find much more interesting. Not only as a callback to 11th Hour, but the general idea that Amelia is that little girl left in Amy.
DOES THIS MAN NOT KNOW HOW FURIOUSLY IMPATIENT I AM?!?!?!
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I was left flailing for hours I tell you, HOURS.
All I could do was make gifs, so have some spam:
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take, share, enjoy 🙂
You are brilliant! <3
Your gif-making talents are sublime!
You are too kind. It's all down to three beautiful programs though:
1) 'iPlayer+' which can download the episodes right from BBC iPlayer in HD (OH THE GLORY).
2) 'Final Cut' which allows me to separate out the clips in frame by frame accuracy.
3) 'Photoshop' which can turn those .mov clips straight into gifs.
For some reason they look crapola in Safari but Firefox and Chrome seem to deliver the desired effect 🙂
They look quite wonderful in Safari for me.
THANK YOU!
oh my god, I was watching one of your gifts and I just realised something. OH MY GOD.
THEORIES ABOUND
The Doctor wears a blue bowtie and a red bowtie: one to signal when he's in the past, one to signal when he's in the future.
That pregnancy scan uses red and blue. Past and future? It could just be a case of over-thinking this but it would be a nice way to resolve the plotline before the "is she/isn't she" gets drawn out and tiresome and soapy. :C
The Good:
I LOVED the bit where Amy was in the creepy room in the children’s home and the markings kept appearing on her, so it was like the audience/camera was forgetting the Silence too. It reminded of back when the Weeping Angels were cool and they didn’t move when the camera was on them because the camera functioned as another set of eyes.
I’m really starting to feel sorry for River in these past couple of episode. As we learn more and more about how her life sucks, she feels less like a caricature. So yay for making me care about River! (Even though the more I care about her the more I’m DNW with regards to a River/Doctor relationship because it seems like since they’re always at different places in each other’s lives, there is just always going to be a creepy power imbalance.)
Rory is pretty foxy. I was definitely feeling the suit and glasses combo.
America is pretty! I’m glad that the show showcased that because sometimes the natural beauty of the US gets lost because people not from the US tend to only think of our crazy politics.
The surprise!regeneration of the little girl who may or may not be Rory and Amy’s baby! I mostly liked this because I want to pretend that it is actually the Doctor because the Doctor as a little girl is a HILARIOUS concept to me.
The Bad:
The handwaving of plotholes bothered me. I just don’t understand how we went from the end of last week’s episode were Rory and River kept forgetting about the Silence to Amy, Rory and River running around the US gathering info. And WHY did they need to orchestrate the whole FBI chasing them thing? Because they needed to get into the Tardis without the Silence noticing/the Silence thinking they were dead? Idk. It just all seemed super elaborate and pointlessly confusing.
And now it seems like Moffat is either contradicting his own canon because River and the Doctor aren’t non-linear. This episode seemed to confirm that they ARE linear, just in exact opposite order. So why the diaries? Theoretically they should never have any experiences in common, except they obviously did. But then why does River know that his first kiss is her last kiss?
Is Amy being pregnant/not pregnant going to be her story for the series? After last series where a large part of her story was whether or not she’d get married? REALLY? You couldn’t come up with something more original or something actually character driven for Amy to do?
But my major beef with this episode actually has to do with the way the Doctor resolved the Silence plot. The solution to the plot was he brainwashed humans to kill the Silence. HOW IS THAT OK? Yes, last season we have all the ominous “silence will fall” crap, but from this story, all the Silence did was kill one lady, use a little girl for their unspecified purposes, and then manipulated the human race into going to the moon. How does that warrant genocide? They’d been on the earth for tens of thousands of years. Why should they have to leave? I guess because unlike the Silurians they didn’t evolve here? Idk Idk. So based just on the text of THIS EPISODE (and not implied stuff from the past), I just don’t get why his reaction is to kill all the Silence. I mean, they’re creepy and shit, but what were they actually DOING other than living on earth and occasionally directing the human race (and yeah maybe killing a person every once in a while, but humans do that too)?
And you know, I would be ok with it if the show portrayed the Doctor’s decision as a grey area or a moment of darkness of ends justifying the means, but nothing within the show led me to believe it was anything other than 100% awesome. Ten did some dark stuff, but the show always acknowledged that it was bad. When he punished the Family of Blood, the music was ominous and dramatic and the look of anger on the Doctor’s face told me that this was showing us how the Doctor can be like fire and ice and rage. And then when the Doctor went on the Racnoss killing spree, Donna was there to tell him he’d gone far enough and then later explicitly said that sometimes he needs someone to stop him. So with Ten, the show portrayed these moments as Not Good. But I just didn’t get that sense here. Instead we get the Doctor specifically brainwashing humans to kill an alien on sight. Like I get that he was ~using their technology against them~, but OMG it rubs me the wrong way sfm. Was there no other way the Doctor could think of to fix this? And even if this was the only way, I wish he had appeared conflicted or the musical cues told me this was dramatic or the companions expressions were worried or SOMETHING to indicate that the show was aware that this was messed up.
Idk. It just really made me miss Ten. Remember when the Master thought the Doctor had sent Martha to kill him and the Doctor was like “LULZ. As if I would ask her to kill for me?” Or when Davros showed the Doctor how he turns his companions into warriors and he looked absolutely gutted? I much prefer that to the Doctor actually brainwashing the whole human race into becoming killers while the show plays it off like it’s no big deal. Yes, I understand that the Silence aren’t necessarily genocided because all they need to do is to stay away from humans, but I just cannot get behind the Doctor’s decision to take away humanity’s free will JUST LIKE THE SILENCE WERE DOING and the show never hints that this might be not ok.
But if this is later shown to come back and bite the Doctor in the ass, I will gladly eat my words. For now though, I am giving Eleven some MAJOR side eye and judgey faces.
yep, most of the mysteries I'm completely fine in being patient and enjoying the reveals, love a good mystery, but I don't get AT ALL why River knows his first kiss is her last. They've got diaries because they keep meeting in the wrong order, but has Moffat suddenly decided they're exactly reversing? Or has River just reached a stage of life in these two episodes where she's just getting nostalgic? There's no way she can know that she's going to meet younger doctors is there? Unless a post-library Tennant's already popped in for a cheeky visit by this point in her life to warn her about something?
The way the Doctor dealt with the silence bothered me too. Nine couldn't bring himself to kill the Daleks, Ten did kill but when he did it was made pretty clear that it wasn't a good thing. And now we have Eleven who doesn't think twice about brainwashing humans to kill, which his companions are perfectly happy with. I can't imagine Donna would have let him get away with that. I also didn't like it when River got her gun out, yes it was well filmed and everything but it just didn't feel like this should be in Doctor Who.
I wish I had more up-thumbs to give you! The Doctor is indeed dark as hell and a genocidaire several times over, and what he was doing here by no means needed to be a genocide, since he left the Silence ships intact and ready to leave the planet…but he brainwashed humans into killing aliens. That's not cool.
I mean, I'm sure plenty of humans would be happy to shoot themselves some alien invaders, but what about (ha ha) those rare Americans who don't carry guns? What about pacifists and children and, I don't know, people who just want to make their own choices? Do they all find suddenly find themselves with weird cuts and bruises and electrical burns they can't explain? Cripes, that's nasty, Doctor.
My instinct is that Moffat just didn't think that resolution through. He thought it would be cool to use the Silence's hypno-powers against them and he worked backwards from there. (Which is why the steps leading up to it didn't make much sense, either.)
I think you're right with the resolution thing, it was well filmed and acted but that's not what i watch Doctor Who for.
Yeah the way the entire episode was constructed, it seemed like he had some neat ideas and then kind of made a plot fit around it without making sure that it all made sense. This really just wasn't written very well. Without knowing the Silence's objection or motivations, it's really hard to judge them. I mean, just from this episode, they didn't seem all THAT bad which makes the Doctor's actions seem like an overreaction. And I just hate that he's taking away choice from people by brainwashing them to kill for him.
Yeah, I was thinking that, too. The Silence are creepy-looking and stuff, and the Doctor contends that they manipulated all of human history (yeah, join the club), but…how much evil did we actually see them do?
For a while I thought that maybe the "kill order" was like real-life hypnotism, which generally can't get you to do anything you don't want to do, but then it was pointed out to me that the Silence's brand of brain-whammy is stronger than that, so I'm back to the creepy lack of consent angle.
I really want to make a comparison to Torchwood here, but sadly Mark might watch it someday so I'll refrain. 😛
Hi, long-time lurker first-time poster.
I should point out that the Doctor did not personally tell every human on the planet to kill the Silence; in fact, he simply told the people of Earth exactly what their puppetmaster overlords thought of them.
Remember, the dialogue the scene originally comes from, to paraphrase:
"We have ruled this world since your lives began; you should kill us all on sight." (This being what the Silence would do in humanity's place)
Maybe it would have been better if the Doctor had added the previous lines into the clip; but, maybe that would have diluted the power of the suggestion.
However, it does still fall within the bounds of the Doctor's modus operandi: Defeat the monster of the week by turning their own power against them. He probably planned for the Silence to say something incriminating, didn't expect something so heavy, and it wouldn't have been feasible to go ask the captured, wounded Silent if it would be so kind as to give him a second take. So, basically, make humanity as aware as possible that there are these aliens who have ruled their lives since the dawn of humanity's sapience and do not have their best interests at heart; then warn the Silence that their choice is Run or Die.
That said, I am sure the ramifications of advocating a war will inevitably bite the Doctor in his bowtie-wearing backside, and we will certainly see the Silence again.
And this does quite handily explain why human innovation post-Space Race has been drastically reduced and inward-focused; no more Silence instigating our development. Perhaps that is the true disaster of the Doctor's actions here.
I'll admit, I thought the Doctor's actions a bit weird, too, even forgiving that he's always had a weird sense of morality. But I know two theories (one a bit fanwanky, but meh, which make some sense.)
1) The Doctor hasn't exactly strapped a bomb to the Silence's chest. If they leave the Earth peacefully, and don't let any armed humans see them, they can escape without genocide. So in that sense, they're left with a way out.
2) One person proposed that because the Doctor's already seen the moon landing clip, he's be hypnotized to kill the Silence all on sight, too, and doesn't even understand his own willingness. Which is a little bit creepy, when you think about it.
Number 2 doesn't fly for me. The clip wasn't altered until the Doctor altered it. So if…Seven, for example, watched the moon landing on TV, he'd have seen it without the Silence add-on.
Here's a parallel: If Amy saw "Sunflowers" before meeting Van Gogh, it wouldn't have had the dedication to her on it. And she should theoretically still have the memory of having seen it without that dedication. But now that she's changed history, she could go back to the Orsay in 1992 or whatever and the dedication would still be there. Both timelines happened, but only one exists in her memory up until the point of change.
(Or like Night Watch! Present-day Vimes still got mentored by Keel, even though he went back and mentored himself. Both timelines happened.)
I think. 😛 This being Doctor Who, of course, you can take things in either direction and probably be "correct"; our canon is loosey-goosey like that, bless its mismatched socks.
Random fly-by comment: granted, I may be mis-remembering, but isn't it a part of hypnotism that you can't be unwilling for it to work? So even with a post-hypnotic suggestion, it seems to me someone confronted with a Silent wouldn't go against their natural inclination. Secret Service agents would immediately shoot the enemy, but the average untrained person would probably have a fight-or-flight response, and dedicated pacifists would grab a protest sign.
Even if the above isn't true, the Silent said "You should kill us all on sight"; that "should" seems like it would be ambiguous enough to give someone unwilling enough time to go "wait, what?", turn away, and forget what they were doing.
MY HANDWAVES, LET ME SHOW YOU THEM.
<img src="http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll211/davetheshady/1632390.gif" />
(credit to libraflyter)
Next season she will try to have a career, find it hard to balance with TARDIS traveling, and then worry she is losing her looks.
And then the MENOPAUSE!
I don't think River and the Doctor are going in exact opposites. I think they generally move in opposites with a bit of veering here and there. She would realize it's her last kiss, simply because it was his first kiss. (at leas that's the way I saw it)
This was how I read it. River doesn't know for certain that it's going to be her last kiss with the Doctor – but as most of the time, she's continually seeing him at earlier points in his life, to her it seemed likely that it could be their last. I do know they're pushing the opposite order thing and that's making it confusing, and maybe I'm wrong in presuming what she means is like, 85% of the time, each time she sees the Doctor it's progressively earlier in his time line. But I don't think we were supposed to take her last line as something she has Actual Knowledge of, as opposed to something she's just guessing or supposing. Even a strong likelihood, if not absolute certainty, that you'll never kiss the person you love again is bound to make someone sad.
You've beaten me to it. I don't comment if I see other people have said what I've said but you guys are Fast!
We know that River and the Doctor's respective timelines aren't going in strictly reverse order, because of the Singing Towers, which River mentioned in FOTD. She says that it was the last time she saw "her Doctor" (who knew her well, which means it was late in the Doctor's personal timeline, too), he took her to the Singing Towers, gave her his screwdriver and cried, because he knew her next adventure would be the Library, where she'd die (I'm also betting that was the time when he told her his name, so that she could use it to convince his earlier self in the Library to trust her).
By the Strictly Opposing Timelines Theory, the Singing Towers, which is River's penultimate adventure with the Doctor, should be the Doctor's second adventure with River. This is not the case, as the Doctor in the Singing Towers is clearly a later Doctor who's had plenty of adventures with River and knows her well.
Or just assume it's her last because it's his first. For her, this is before Pandorica and Angles, right? So…maybe now she just knows that she shouldn't kiss him. In my head, that last day she describes in the Library happens with a Doctor who is actually on the same page, so they both know it's the last time.
The handwaving of plotholes bothered me. I just don’t understand how we went from the end of last week’s episode were Rory and River kept forgetting about the Silence to Amy, Rory and River running around the US gathering info.
YES, THANK YOU. THIS BOTHERED ME SO MUCH. I was like, 'wait, when did we realise the Silence actually existed?'. I don't know if I missed something, so if someone can explain that that'd be awesome, but… seriously.
But are they really plotholes, or just part of the story that will double back, like many things in the last season. I can totally see Moffat doing this. Perhaps even making us, the audience, part of the story by having the Silents looking at us and offering a suggestion or two.
And now it seems like Moffat is either contradicting his own canon because River and the Doctor aren’t non-linear. This episode seemed to confirm that they ARE linear, just in exact opposite order. So why the diaries? Theoretically they should never have any experiences in common, except they obviously did. But then why does River know that his first kiss is her last kiss?
I don't think she knows it's her last kiss but you could take it as she knows that she's one step closer to never knowing him at all. Their timelines are more or less in opposite order so she knows it's likely that was the last or one of the last kisses for her.
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That's the trouble with regeneration you never know what you're going to get.
That's pretty fucking dark and I wish I hadn't seen it. Cheers.
Well, it would be pretty creepy if someone had actually photoshopped Justin Bieber to look like he'd been shot. But it IS from an episode of CSI, so…
BTW, did anyone else get a serious X-Files vibe from the Orphanage visit? Was never a huge fan of that show but the instant the door opened on Canton and Amy I flashed back to it for some reason. Maybe the suit Amy was wearing did it?
Actually, this episode was the first in a long time (now that you mention it) that I totally did get an X-Files vibe from the show.
YES! The suit and the whole atmosphere was very X-Files-ey to me.
More like a redhead in a suit….Amy was so Scully!
I absolutely did. This whole episode was like Mad Men meets The X Files.
When my sister and I were watching this and the little girl started to regenerate, the only comment she had about it was "I can hear Mark keysmashing from here."
I have thoughts! Mostly about characters! But first, I just want to say that I'm glad there are so many questions already. I know it's not to everyone's taste, but I personally enjoy the notion that we're setting up a big, convoluted story that takes many episodes to resolve. Anyway. Characters!
Canton: I laughed at the beginning when Canton seemed like a bad guy, just cause it's Mark Sheppard and he always plays magnificent bastards. But then he was in on the Team TARDIS plan! I wouldn't have actually minded him being bad, but this was probably better. I don't really have much to say other than he was great, but I thought the marriage bit at the end was cool and appreciated. Also, I loved him straightening the Doctor's bowtie, and the "welcome to America" and "whatever a video phone is" lines. I loled.
Rory: Aw, the Doctor kissed Rory's head when he comes out of the body bag. Rory's truly a companion, even if he's not the major companion. I don't know if Arthur's signed on for as many eps as Karen, and no one tell me if they know, but I love that Rory truly is a part of the Team TARDIS.
<img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/2n0ofls.gif">(source)
I honestly don't care for Rory being insecure still, but perhaps I should want it just because Arthur Darvill knocked it out of the park for all of his emotional scenes. Utterly fantastic acting. And some really great lines, too. I especially appreciated that he got to talk about those 2,000 years. And that he talked to the Doctor about it. (And he talked about shutting those memories behind a door, and I read someone's comment on tumblr that he should meet Donna and then he can teach her how to do that and then Donna can remember without hurting herself and I'm still bitter about her ending.) But I'm still hoping that we can lay the jealousy aspect to rest after this episode.
Amy: Karen Gillan is fantastic. I loved the idea of Amy and Canton going off together to investigate. (And I loved her black suit.) I thought her scene in the room with the pictures and the little girl was just great. And even while not being on screen, she absolutely broke my heart with her voice. Seriously, Karen Gillan was amazing with that stuff. And since I think it's pretty clear I don't like jealousy storylines very much, I'm glad Amy has no problem with River and the Doctor flirting. (Even if she's not really interested in him in that way anymore (although you can certainly argue otherwise), it's still entirely realistic that she could still be a bit possessive of him – not the case and I love it.) Everyone is friends with everyone! It's great. And the Doctor is her best friend.
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Lovely. And then she was talking about Rory, because it's his stupid face she married. They're so gorgeous together, and I love that Amy quickly confronts Rory listening in, and that they talk to each other about things that could impact their relationship, instead of constantly keeping secrets. Honestly, characters need to talk to each other all the time – good for both characterization and my own state of mind.
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River: Hey, remember that time River Song was on screen? And, like, breathing? That was awesome. So, um, I could have used more scenes with her away from the Doctor. Not that I don't adore her with the Doctor, but I love her on her own and with other companions, too. Anyway, I love that she's the one who tries to figure out the spacesuit. And that the Doctor assumes she can handle it. Because duh, she's River Song. And she's a great shooter, and flirts in the midst of monsters, and just generally gets. shit. done. She's an archaeologist – she loves tombs. Be still my heart! And then she willingly goes back to prison. Because she promised, sure, but also possibly because she feels guilty. I love River Song and the anticipation of slowly finding out more about her. I love getting slow tidbits, just because it lets me ponder over her character so much.
<img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/farh29.gif">(source)
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(continued)
The Doctor: Moffat seems to like bringing the Doctor down a bit, doesn't he? The Doctor and the TARDIS, doesn't know, doesn't know. His friends and companions are keeping a secret from him, and he knows it. He's up against a species that even he doesn't have any real way of remembering. He can't make sense of Amy's possible pregnancy, just like the rest of us. And we seem him chained, cuffed, and imprisoned at different points. I personally rather enjoy it – it's a big universe (well, multiverse), and no matter his importance, he's still one man.
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Nixon: I loved him in this ep. Loved the America jokes, loved the "Hail to the Chief", loved his smarminess, loved the references to his future. And I love him being brought out like psychic paper – best use of a president ever.
Ad now some River/Doctor thoughts, because I can't not:
Okay, I don't even really have that many coherent thoughts about them this time, other than they are gorgeous and lovely together.
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Most of what I've said about River before this ep still stands, so I guess I can try to focus on the Doctor for once. I think that line about him kinda liking River shooting people is great because it means that he really does find himself fascinated by her and not just the timey-wimey mystery aspect of it all. He likes her, he really does, and finds himself forgiving some of her personality traits that would otherwise bug him. Because that's what happens to people who care about each other. And then they kissed, and the Doctor's not ready for it, but he cares about her and doesn't want to hurt her feelings about not being sure how to react (unlike with Amy, where it was absolutely something he had to reject in that scene). He doesn't try to break the kiss, he just flails around ackwardly because it's all new to him. AND NOW WE CAN ANTICIPATE MORE RIVER/DOCTOR KISSING IN THE FUTURE! Although, I truly hope River somehow has it wrong about their timelines, because I want to see her last date with him, and I want it to be with a Doctor who knows her well. And that it would be sad if they didn't kiss during that last date. Basically, Kingston's delivery of River's pain at thinking it's her last kiss is so good, but I hope River's wrong. And that's not something I often think.
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Other thoughts:
I really enjoy the in media res aspect to both this and the previous ep. I like the notion that we haven't seen everything, and don't (yet?) know what exactly everyone got up to during the times we weren't shown. 3 months later! Love it, personally. (And when they first get in the TARDIS and talk about and exposit about the Silence, I kept yelling about the picture on Amy's phone, only to have that been acknowledged by the characters long before. Since I kept waiting for it to be adressed, I was pleasantly surprised how quickly it was noted, keeping the momentum of the opener going.)
<img src="http://i55.tinypic.com/20hkl05.gif">(source)
Iffy CGI! Know what that means? Doctor Who is back!
All the orphanage bits were fantastically creepy, but I also want to say that the aspect of us not seeing the Silence until we see hashmarks or the red hand is really effective – very suspenseful without going overboard on effects. Just like in Midnight, suggestions and ideas can be more chilling than an actual face-to-face with the monster(s). Plus, I personally hate the idea of losing time, so I find the Silence to be fantastic monsters. (Getting knocked out from general anesthetic and waking up without any sense of time having elapsed remains one of the most odd experiences I've ever had.)
I generally don't care for pregnancy storylines, and I think scifi, as a genre, handles it the worst. We'll see, but honestly my expectations are pretty low, even if I give room for the possibility of Moffat giving us a huge surprise. Just, aliens around + human pregnancies never seem to mix.
lol Dr. Shepherd totally made me think of Lost. Fitting for a new season that seems all about inspiring ridiculous fandom theories. (Have we at least laid to rest the 'River is the Doctor's mother' theory?)
I love the eyepatch woman for no reason other than how random that was. Just, what? What?!
In conclusion, have a gif:
<img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/dwxpja.jpg">(source)
Perfect review is perfect. <3 <3 <3 I especially adore and agree with the paragraph about River/Doctor.
Seriously, it is. So so so so good.
I just want to say that I'm glad there are so many questions already. I know it's not to everyone's taste, but I personally enjoy the notion that we're setting up a big, convoluted story that takes many episodes to resolve.
COMPLETELY AGREED. I love the confusion and speculation and not having everything wrapped up in a shiny bow right way. So far, I've loved pretty much everything the Moff has done (it always entertains and has some degree of internal logic- enough for me!), so I am SO EXCITE about where it is all headed.
And, well, THIS to everything else as well. I am not a fan at all of jealousy storylines either so I really hope that's over for Rory and Amy. I am intrigued about the pregnancy thing, and while I usually dread such stories (and you are so right about sci-fi) I think this has interesting potential. I'm not completely worried about it yet.
RIVER/DOCTOR! Their flirtation is absolutely one of my favorite things about the new season so far. GIVE ME MORE, MOFFAT!
River must just be wrong here about the kiss. I think generally they've been traveling in opposite directions, but because that last meeting is in her future and she doesn't know what the Doctor knows about her death, she's just unaware that a future Doctor is going to come visit future her. (BTW, TWWW makes everything really difficult to write down/discuss without the use of diagrams, IMO.) I guess we just have to go with the idea that River is not an infallible narrator- her word is to be taken with the other evidence we have (River in the Library, both of them having diaries, etc.).
The rampant confusion and speculation and wild theorizing and stuff not being tied up REALLY STRONGLY reminds me of my years in the Lost fandom, when we'd all flail like this after like EVERY EPISODE. I think that is why I am enjoying this so. 😀
YES. YES. YES.
Oh god, HOW we speculated and theorized.
I'll never forget how we all exploded and keysmashed over certain things. NEVER. It was truly a fandom experience unlike any other for me.
Agreed. AWESOME review, with even awesomer gifs! 🙂
The time head gif is perfect. They're like BFF buddies for life.
It makes me miss Donna…
I love the Rory/Amy gif. it's so pretty.
The crazy guy in the orphanage was really confused and didn't know what year it was because his mind had been altered too much by the Silence- presumably because he sees them loads every day.
Isn't that what they said?
Yeah, the Doctor said that his mind had been wiped so many times that he had just erased the past two years from his head.
Also the reason that he was still there was because the Silence ordered him to stay and look after the little girl, who I presume had been there all that time.
I think that the writing on the walls was also him, not any of the children. He would try and leave messages to himself to get out but would then be ordered to stay by the Silence and forget he'd left them.
I think that the writing on the walls was also him, not any of the children. He would try and leave messages to himself to get out but would then be ordered to stay by the Silence and forget he'd left them.
Oooooh, I hadn't thought of that, but that idea gives me CHILLS. A+, my friend.
Yeah I think it would be like having your memories be obliviated a lot, it's not good for the mind. Poor guy.
Yup, damage to his ability to form long-term memories. And I agree with Kirby about the messages.
Exactly this. Even the periods that he could remember probably felt jumbled and confused…because, well, let's make an analogy. You know when you're sort of sleeping, but also awake at the same time? And it feels like you've been lying in bed for hours, awake? And then you find out the next day that you were actually asleep most that time, you just remember the waking bits more? Its like that.
uggg. Comment goof. Meant to post this:
<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkhdel5LKv1qcresxo1_500.gif" alt="steve" />
BEAUTIFUL.
He needs to wear this outfit ALL THE TIME. UNF.
The music whenever Nixon just showed up was BRILLIANT. I love how he'd just pop out and suddenly everyone would be totally fine with what was going on. Where is my portable U.S. President for these kind of situations???
But poor River. 🙁
As tragic as the whole thing is, I really like how her storyline is playing out – it kind of makes my head hurt, but in a good way. It's nice to see time travel actually being USED in this way as a plot device.
And, as I heard someone put it once, the more times we see River, the happier she'll get, right?
Also, because I can't not mention it…THAT LITTLE GIRL AT THE END. WHAT.
I know everything was very unexplained but I didn't feel too disappointed – just excited for when it all does come together. Moffat has totally gained my trust in this show, and I know the payoff will be epic! 😀
I don't think the Silence is resolved. They can't be. First if they all got killed in 1969, how could there be one for Amy to see in 2011? Or on Starship UK? How did the…. shit, the Silurians? The Alien Fish from Vampires of Venice get involved with them in their own homeworld?
OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE NOT ALL DEAD. Also, can you imagine the stink as the dead ones decayed and people forgot about them?
So yeah. I think this is a new set-up for a series of Doctor Who- almost, yes, X-Files-esque. Also I should like to be River when I grow up, thank you.
I don't think the Silence is resolved.
I agree completely! This definitely isn't the last we've seen of them, even if it's only to account for the Silent Amy sees in 2011. But even ignoring that, there's so many plot-threads left hanging. Who are they? Why are they on Earth? Why didn't the Doctor notice them before?
And River is an excellent choice of a grown up.
They're on Starship UK? A mention of them of do you actually see them? I haven't seen that episode in forever…
There's a brief moment where a dark shape walks by Amy, and she looks after it, concerned, and then sort of shake it off. There's a whole bunch of of potential sightings in Series 5- there's a youtube video, hang on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6wczbYfip4
I do think the "not credible" moment in The Eleventh Hour is totally credible. Especially after Day of the Moon.
Well, ok, I think that very last "not credible" moment in "The Lodger" is absolutely a sighting.
They also did not include the moment in "The Eleventh Hour" when a figure walks past Amy's kitchen window when she is a child.
That could be Prisoner Zero, though?
I'm pretty sure that TEH moment you mention, Mark, is meant to be something else.
At least, it was discussed in the episode commentary as something else.
(I'll leave the explanation out until you ask for it.)
I just assumed this was the Doctor (the one who was being erased) on his way outside to pick up Amy. I thought it was one of the hints we didn't notice until rewatching the season (like the 2nd doctor in Flesh and Stone)
I think it's supposed to be the Doctor doing his rewind thingy in "The Big Bang".
They didn't all die in 1969, humans just started killing them in 1969. The Doctor knew it would take a while for them all to die. "How far can you run?" I think the idea is that many of them died, many of them left Earth to try to escape, and some stayed on Earth and were maybe sneakier about being seen.
I also remember one of the episodes in the previous season, we see River Song breaking out of prison and she has tally marks on her body which were never explained ever. So idk, i guess they're everywhere and nowhere at the same time, but as they're essentially invisible it's impossible to detect all of them… a bit like bacteria
Im glad Im not the only one who jumped to this conclusion.
MY MIND HURTS. I don’t understand any of this at all WHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYY
THIS! BASICALLY, THIS! (quite literally as I have a headache so my post might be slightly awful and nonsensical) SO MANY STRANGE AND CONFUSING THINGS AND GOD WHY DO I NOT HAVE A TARDIS TO SKIP TO THE NEXT MOFF EPISODE FOR ANSWERS?!
Okay, firs and foremost: CANTON FOR COMPANION! If his boyfriend/husband wants to join Team TARDIS as well the more the merrier. NGL I giggled my head off at "I need Doctor Sheppard!", hee meta.
WHO IS THIS KID?! She's super cute but WHO WHAT WHY IS SHE REGENERATING?! I don't even…I can't even begin to guess what's going on with her. SOMETHING obviously but apart from that? I got nothing. Same goes for eyepatch!lady, WHOARE THESE PEOPLE?!
I have to say I felt really bad for Dr Renfrew, the poor guy's been so thoroughly messed up by the Silence. When he came in to try and get Team TARDIS to help the injured Silent but didn't seem to know why he was doing it, I just…ugh poor guy
(cont)
Okay as much as I multi-ship pretty much all of the four main characters even I started rolling my eyes during the "OMG is Amy saying she loves the Doctor?!?!?!11" part. It just felt so unnecessary (the moment near the end where Amy call Eleven her best friend was very sweet though). As a side note, I love how much Rory flails his arms around while running at the beginning of the episode. It's strangely adorable.
Eleven and River are far too much fun together. The "Stop it." "Make me." "Maybe I will." and pushing him towards the TARDIS with her backside, damn but Matt and Alex have good chemistry and it's WONDERFUL to watch!
Just to state it plainly here in the review: River Song is an eternal badass
HELL YES SHE IS! Between jumping off the skyscraper (and looking amazing while doing so, my girlcrush on Alex Kingston lives on), fighting off all the Silents and picking off the last one WITHOUT EVEN LOOKING she was on top form all ep. LOVE HER!
About the Amy / Doctor thing… unfortunately I think it was kinda necessary. I've heard more than one person think there was still a love triangle on-board the TARDIS and I guess it's better to address it now than leave it. And if you ARE going to have to address it you might as well get some mileage out of it and use it to develop the characters a bit. Plus the payoff is SO sweet (and so brilliantly done between Arthur and Karen, damn those two work well together) it just about gets away with it…
"Will I be remembered?" Awwwkward. Nixon's scenes walk a fine line between awkward and flat out hilarious. I'll admit when he walked out of the prison cell I did wonder for a second if it was somehow the Doctor in diguise somehow…look I don't know why I thought that, I think it was just that he seemed ever so slightly off from his other scenes there. Rewatching it I guess it's just because he's so thoroughly confused by all the TARDIS travel or…something.
Slightly self-indulgent moment. I mentioned it last week but I'm now even more amused that these episodes aired in the week(s) after Portal 2 was released (yes this game has eaten my brain a little). Without spoiling the game for anyone; the resolution for this episode is particularly amusing given part of the end of the game. Okay the moment's over, sorry about that.
Final thought: "Rory I'm going to need thermocouplings…" DOCTOR NO REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME YOU LET RORY HANDLE THOSE?!
Yes!
<img src=http://i947.photobucket.com/albums/ad311/Chritter710/NOOO.gif>
HOW DID I NOT THINK OF THIS.
Oh, and I forgot to mention – that scene in the orphanage was GENUINELY TERRIFYING TO ME.
I mean, I know Doctor Who isn't just a kid's show at all, but a lot of quite young children (certainly younger than me) watch it, and I always wonder how they deal with stuff like this!
I'm 18, and no stranger to horror movies (my favourite show is also The X Files, which can get pretty freaky), and even I was watching from between my fingers! I know 12 year olds who watch this show! MAN that must have given them some nightmares!
Or maybe children are just tougher these days. Or I'm a wuss? But the consensus seems to be that it was a damn scary scene!
I've discovered that kids can deal with far creepier things than we give them credit for. Of course, this is pure irony coming from me, since I was too scared to watch Scooby Doo when I was a kid, but still.
Oh, and I agree. That scene was one of the creepiest I've seen in a long time.
How do they deal with it? They hide behind the couch, traditionally.
I think this is because he sees the Silence SO OFTEN and forgets it that probably a good half or more of his life has been forgotten… would screw with anyone's sense of the passage of time, really!
This. I think he's been obliviated one too many times.
I loved it. Not without it's flaws, of course 9I felt the ending was rushed and felt flat) and I'm getting increasingly used to Moffats stock-in-trade tropes- creepy children, writing on walls, pop-culture references/every day things turned horriffic- but that doesn;t mean I don't like his usage of them.
And I have SO MANY FAN THEORIES, that are half formed as they are based on precisely two episodes of info.
Mark, I am so glad you are here for the during-series insanity. While you were watching an episode a day, you didn;t get the FULL EXPERIENCE, which is basically giddy nerding out about the possibilities for the whole time with a lot of OMG AND WHAT ABOUT- IS THAT? OH GOD YEAH!
Why is saturday SO FAR AWAY.
Oh, this episode!!! I don’t know what to think or where to begin, so I’ll just talk about River because I’ve been doing a lot of River-related thinking because of these 2 new episodes.
I’ve read things in a few different places that go off on Moffat for having River suggest that it will kill her/be the worst day of her life when she sees the Doctor and he has no idea who she is. It goes against everything we know about River. It belittles what happened to her in the Library. It’s sexist. All sorts of things, and I don’t agree.
When I was really young, I remember going with my dad to see his father in a nursing home. My grandfather had dementia, and didn’t remember his own son (didn’t know who I was either, for that matter). I was probably too young to really understand what was going on, but I’ve never forgotten how my dad looked every time we went back home. My dad is an epically strong, stoic, and understanding man, but every time we would go see my grandfather, my dad would look completely defeated as we walked out. It was a hard thing to see and an even harder thing to forget, and ever since then, it has always been my biggest fear that one day, someone I love will look at me and not know who I am. It would kill me–maybe not literally, but a huge part of me would die–if my dad or my partner or my sister or my best friend looked me in the eye and had no idea what we had been through together, what we meant to each other. So when River said that the worst day of her life would be the day when the Doctor didn’t know who she was, it broke my heart because I can imagine all too well what that would be like. And I don’t believe for a second that that fear makes her any less fierce or independent or badass than she’s been in previous episodes. Knowing how much the Doctor means to her, how they have saved the world together, and now knowing that they’re moving in opposite directions I think it makes perfect sense that she would fear that day more than death. I think it’s so tragically poetic that she literally does die the day the Doctor doesn’t know her–not *because* he doesn’t know her, but because she realizes that he never will if she doesn’t sacrifice herself to keep him from sacrificing himself. The ending to her story gets sadder to me every time we meet her. I think it’s so interesting that we’re meeting River backwards, so every time we see her, she’s a little younger, knows the Doctor a little less, and is a little bit more vulnerable.
Now. Theories.
1. I think Amy is pregnant/not pregnant in 2 different time lines–one that involves the Doctor dying and one that doesn’t. If that child is Amy’s for real, it’s with Rory. I cannot picture the Doctor willingly getting Amy to cheat on Rory, and I can’t picture Amy cheating on Rory (regardless of what happened after the Angels). Their child isn’t a Time Lord, so she’s not regenerating, just healing herself. Kind of like how when Jenny died, she came back but kept her body. So the kid isn’t Time Lord, but has some Time Lord traits, so healing but not a whole new body. I think it’s because of traveling in the TARDIS while in the womb…or possibly because the Silence tampered with her. I hope it’s from the TARDIS because having a Silence-tampered baby is terrifying and creepy.
2. The child is from the future, brought back to 1969 by the Silence (or something). If she’s Amy’s daughter, I don’t see how she’d be in 1969 any other way. I don’t think Amy would choose to stay in America in 1960 to give birth and then just leave her child there, so I think she was kidnapped. My favorite theory so far is still that River is Amy and Rory’s daughter, so because I want that to be true, I want this little girl to be young River. I think it would work with the Doctor/River moving in opposite directions, too. In Amy’s current time line, she hasn’t had a child yet. Since she and the Doctor are roughly on the same timeline, she hasn’t had a child in his present, either. So. In Amy’s future AND the Doctor’s future, she’ll have a child. If that child is River, in order to see Eleven as an adult, she would have to go back in time (from his time line) because she wouldn’t have been born in his present. It makes sense in my head, but looks really weird written out!
3. The little girl is not in the space suit to shoot the Doctor. Since she managed to get out of it, I don’t think she’d rush to jump back in. I can’t remember/didn’t notice: did Team TARDIS bring the space suit along with them after examining it? I have absolutely no idea who IS in the suit, but I don’t think it’s the little girl OR River. It’s a huge possibility that the “good man” River kills is the Doctor, but since she’s in prison in the 51st century where they think America is a planet, I don’t think she would get arrested and taken there for a murder she committed in 1969. So if she kills the Doctor, I don’t think it’s now.
ALSO. River asked if the suit could move by itself, and the hand twitched. IS THERE EVEN ANYONE IN IT WHEN IT SHOOTS HIM?
I mean, this theory has problems because we see the side of someone's face in it, but I could pretend that's a production error.
We learned the hard way that sometimes "productions errors" aren't red herrings last time.
Blew all of our minds. 😀 (referring to the jacket/no jacket doctor reverse timeline)
I never thought that was a production error! My friends and I were theorizing about it like mad!
That is one beautiful perspective on this issue.
It's because she's a woman that we have to question it so deeply. We can't just take it at face value and accept that it's possible for a man to mean so much to a woman, yet she can still be interesting and badass and a full character in her own right. It's like we sometimes try so hard to knock down those walls that put women as "only" one flavor, that we don't allow for any of them to be shown in this manner. God, I hope this is clear. I know what I am trying to say, but I'm not sure I am putting it out there accurately.
What you're saying makes sense to me: there's not one way, and no "right way", to be a woman.
Succinct. Thank you, echinodermata.
YES. YES. YES.
I think in trying to ensure female characters are well-rounded we forcibly reject any 'sterotypical' ways of viewing them, which just serves to make them cardborad cut-outs, but in a completely different way.
I know that I am a strong, clever, independant woman, but my husband still means the world to me. Hell, I said in front of friends and family I meant to spend my whole life with him, so if I KNEW I was getting closer and closer to losing him for good it would break my heart in a way that almost nothing else would.
Strong, amazing people feel strong amazing emotions for other strong amazing people.
You are beautiful. This comment is beautiful. This is EXACTLY what I was trying to say.
Aw, thanks you guys. Just trying to express in my somewhat clumsy way what I have believed for a long time, that someone can;t be truly strong if they've never been vulnerable, and if they can;t feel strongly for other people.
So true. Plus, we have to consider the speculation that she and the Doctor are married. I think it would horrible if she DIDN'T feel this way about the end of their time together.
This comment is really beautiful and I agree completely. ;_;
OH MY GOD THIS EPISODE. THIS WHOLE FUCKING EPISODE. THE ENTIRE TIME I WAS WATCHING IT MY THOUGHTS WERE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE SHIT JUST GOT SO REAL. THE ORPHANAGE AND THE WEIRD EYEPATCH LADY AND CANTON SHOOTING AMY AND RORY AND EVERYTHING IS JUST SO INTENSE.
Like you I'm not sure how to sort out my feelings about this episode except "WTF." It's so dense and clearly laden with plot that it's hard to know what to make of it. By the end of the season we may know what's going on, but for now it is just so much stuff.
But man, the hidden message in the Apollo 11 broadcast was absolutely brilliant. And so were all the scenes where they cut to the blinking message nodes and the markings and then you saw what the characters had just seen. daljdfakd How is something so simple so effective.
NEXT STOP: SPECULATION-VILLE.
So clearly this is not the last time we'll see the Silence. There's no way you could set up such an incredible villain in the first episode of the series and just drop it. And in any case, there's still the loose end of the little girl and why the Silence wanted Amy and a space suit. And also the fact that the fish aliens from Venice apparently were running from the Silence, which sort of implies that there are more of them out there.
This is only slightly related but I love how so many people came up with variations on "Schroedinger's baby" in the liveblog post. xD Geek hivemind.
oh man and I didn't even mention how much I love that we got a badass gay FBI agent. And River Song is my new favorite. When she showed up in Silence in the Library/ Forest of the Dead I wasn't a fan, but Moffat has made it work. Her last scene here was absolutely heartbreaking. Once this is over, I cannot wait to go back and rewatch everything in her order.
YES. Once we get all of River's timeline, I want to like, go back and cut all her scenes together in the order they happened for her and watch that for ENTIRELY NEW PERSPECTIVE.
THIS +1000
I went with 'Time Paradox of the Womb' myself. It felt more like a medical diagnosis.
Someone write a House MD/Doctor Who crossover fic on this subject immediately.
I have ALL OF THESE BURNING QUESTIONS and it FILLS ME TO THE BRIM WITH UTTER EXCITEMENT!
If this has any INKLING of an overarching plot like season 5, I WILL BE GIDDY AS A SMALL CHILD.
NGL, overarching plots fill me with glee.
Just…
Caaaaaantoooooooon!!!!!!! ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
Must be a companion. Or recurring. Just.. PLEASE.
YES. YES PLEASE.
Love the notion that the Doctor told Nixon to record everything which happened in the Oval Office and ended up making an already paranoid bloke even more paranoid by talking about the scale of the Alien menace out there! Great work Doctor! No harm can come of that can it?
I didn't love it and I didn't hate it and the things I didn't like are offset by how much I love Canton. Please, please let him (and the man he wants to marry) join the Tardis crew. I don't remember the last time that I've been this emotionally attached to a character this quickly. As soon as he told Nixion that he was his second choice for President, my hear was his. Canton is smart, competent, and has a dry sense of humor.
Otherwise, I'm starting to find the timy whimyness grating and confusing. It's distracting and makes it harder to appreciate the plot and characters. I have so many questions about the three months between the cliffhanger from last week and the beginning of this episode, I really hope we revisit that period sometime before the end of the series.
SPECULATION
The Silence kind of reminds me of the Ood.
The Silence kind of reminds me of the Ood.
Yay, I thought I was the only one that saw the resemblance.
Maybe they're space cousins or something.
Hahahaha, part of the same space family! I like that.
Their grandma loved the Ood more, that's why The Silence are so angst ridden.
0_o
This episode scrambled my brain and I am just as deeply confused, but I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT. I am so much more excited for the rest of series six than I was before this two-parter aired, and that is saying something, believe me. I thought these episodes were a fantastic, epic way to kick things off, and I'm not worried at questions being left unanswered, because I trust we'll revisit this and get things explained. This is obviously not the end of any of this, it's only the start of a season-long arc, and I for one welcome this approach. It's a big difference from the early days of this show, where you'd hear a certain phrase over and over and only actually do something at series' end; this is much better, IMO, and much more my style. This is great television, if you ask me.
Lots of stuff to love in this episode: Karen Gillan, the amazingly wonderfully creepy orphanage sequence (this sort of thing delights me, we all know this), Canton and everything about him, Rory, the Doctor's brilliance, River, and River/Doctor. Now, you all know I'm not generally the shippery type most of the time, but every once in a while, a romance convinces me, and this one did it. I love them together, their flirtiness, the fact that he's acknowledged that he does really like her in spite of traits that would normally put him off, and THE KISS, and they are just really hot together and yet really touching too. Her realization at the end broke my damn heart too. I'm normally leery of pairing the Doctor with anyone, but River is my exception, because she's so damn cool, and that coolness, that intelligence, her experiences, make her feel closer to being the Doctor's equal than any previous companions. Obviously not complete equals, but close enough that I'm not bothered.
Still want to see their last time together, as described by River in FotD. I know I'd bawl. But I need it. With Eleven, specifically. Matt Smith would break my heart in that the way no one else can.
tld;dr BRING ON THE REST OF THE SERIES.
Thank you, you perfectly described why I love River. 🙂
I'm also someone who hates pairing the Doctor with anyone…just who he is and the nature of his life makes any kind of relationship weirdly one-sided. But the whole Doctor/River thing is slowly winning me over.
Though I'm not sure Doctor/TARDIS isn't still my OTP. ;P
Doctor/TARDIS/River OT3? The TARDIS does seem to like River. 😀
+999999999999999999
THIS. 😀
I wonder if we get to see who taught River to fly it… (:
It was the Doctor, wasn't it? I know in "Time of Angels", she said that the Doctor didn't, but I think it was implied that she was just needling him. In "The Pandorica Opens", she outright says to the Doctor, "You taught me!"
Alternately, the TARDIS taught River how to fly.
Oh goodness yes. 😀
<img src="http://i56.tinypic.com/2n7eik5.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
I need a gif of that scene.
Or he was bisexual. UGH so much unanswered!
Either option implies we get MOAR CANTON which I am totally OK with.
Oh and I mentioned this in the liveblog, but my new Halloween costume is going to be me with hashmark counting all over my exposed bits! Loved that particular bit of creepy! I will give out chocolates to anyone who knows what my costume means!
You would creep me out to no end. BECAUSE WHERE ARE THEY?! AAAH!
THAT IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA.
Oh, and take a pen with you. You know. Just in case you need to add any marks.
And I bet that those who recognise your costume will need the chocolate, yes. 😀
ADD HASHMARKS ALL NIGHT WHEN PEOPLE AREN'T LOOKING.
Like on your face. Start out without any on your face and then when people ask, tell them you don't know what they're talking about.
Even better!! I will make this happen.
Yes!
Seriously. I'm gonna have my Keep Calm And Don't Blink shirt for a con coming up….but I think I may need to add some hashmarks to my outfit.
Holy shit, I need a Keep Calm and Don't Blink shirt!
<img src="http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/110238715/6136191">
Go forth! http://timecrash.bigcartel.com/product/don-t-blin…
You tease! They are sold out!
Oh no! I am officially a horrible person….hopefully they re-stock soon!
I promise not to hold it against you. But I might side-eye you from time to time. 😉
Do I get to be a good person again? It looks like they've re-stocked!
You are officially off the shit list. Go Forth, Keep Calm and Don't Blink. Mwah!
I agree with most of what you said here–frustrating, but not bad, and I will probably enjoy it more once All Is Revealed–but I did have to comment and say that Canton isn't the first queer character in Moffat's Who. In fact, the most famous queer character of the entire series, Jack Harkness, first appeared in a Moffatt-penned two parter.
That said, off the top of my head, I can't remember any specifics since he took over as head writer, so perhaps that's what you meant. Either way, Canton's a badass and I would watch an entire series about him being an awesome FBI agent with copious appearances of his unnamed betrothed.
PAST EPISODE SPECULATION NOT REALLY THEORIES:
How important does 'Amy's Choice' seem now? Especially with the pregnancy and the "I think she's dreaming line" in this episode? Dreamlord return?
Also, does anyone think there could be a link between the FotD CAL computer where chunks of time went missing for it's occupants and the Silent's power? I still think this will link back to the library in some way.
I would pay money for the Dream Lord to return. He was awesome.
Moffat is a genius at actually using time travel beyond just changing settings and it's lovely to see.
Yeah, I thought it was a way of making Earth uninhabitable for them – didn't he tell them to run? I can't remember the dialogue properly, but the impression I got was that he basically made sure they HAD to leave.
The Doctor said this, among other things: "Because today is the day the human race throws you off their planet."
Of course!
<ERROR. DOES NOT COMPUTE.>
THEORIES ABOUND HERE LIKE BUNNIES IN A FLOWER FIELD
Okay, this is relating to the big issues here- Amy's questionable pregnancy. My theory? Yes, she is pregnant, yes, it is Rory's, and yes, it is that strange regenerating girl. But the Doctor and the Silence had a hand in making her.
Confused? Me too. But let me try and explain. The child was conceived on the TARDIS, or near the TARDIS, or something along those lines, and was somehow influenced by the Time Vortex/time travel. This in itself wouldn't have been a bad thing- it might have made her more adaptable to time travel and resilient against time weirdness if she'd been born and grown up without any complications.
Enter the Silence. Remember when that ship (the Fake!TARDIS) showed up in The Lodger? The Doctor explicitly said "Someone's been trying to build a TARDIS!" I think the Silence were, in fact, trying to build a TARDIS, but couldn't successfully create one. Perhaps they knew of the Time Lords, but didn't want to get involved with the scary bastards, so they settled for trying to recreate their tech. Unfortunately, the way they built it (or got someone to build it), they needed a Time Lord to pilot it. And they didn't have one. So the answer?
Build a Time Lord.
My theory goes that the Silence had been looking for someone who could carry a fetus that they could modify into a Time Baby. It's why both River and Amy felt sick after they saw the Silence- they'd been scanned to see if they would be able to carry and form a baby who would meet the needed specifications. Amy did, and very well, considering her time vortex-y-potential child. So the Silence kidnapped Amy when they could am brought her back to the ship where they could modify the fetus at their leisure (remember, the Silence definitely said she'd been there for a several months). Now, with the energy of the time vortex and the Silence tech, the fetus is completely out of whack in the timestream, hoping back and forth between times, accounting for the bizarre readings the Doctor gets.
At some point in time (possibly in the past from 1969), Amy gives birth to girl, and she's raised. Then the Silence come for her and trap her in the space suit so that they can use her for whatever they need. Then this episode happens, the little girl escapes from the suit (possibly with Amy's help), and jumps a timetrack six months ahead (to the very end of the episode). There, she's dying because she's been shot/she's off the space suit life support, but figures out how to regenerate.
I… don't really know how to feel about this theory. It's interesting, weird, and kind of creepy. Feel free to mock and poke hole in the theory in the comments.
The child was conceived on the TARDIS, or near the TARDIS, or something along those lines, and was somehow influenced by the Time Vortex/time travel.
That was my thought, too, especially after I realized that Amy and the Doctor's conversation about her pregnancy concerns might be very blatant foreshadowing.
I… don't really know how to feel about this theory.
I know. On the one hand, confirmed new Pond, and she is made of cool! On the other hand, poor Amy and Rory, having to lose their first child so early on and possibly knowing it. (Not to mention the poor traumatized kid, but she'd be traumatized no matter who her parents are.)
I like this "Build A Time Lord" theory. Makes sense in a weird sort of way.
I want to mention a certain plot thing in Angel, but I don't know if Mark will be doing Angel as he'll be reviewing Buffy, therefore I don't know if it's too spoilery.
But, I think you're right… but that River plays a larger role in it.
To the Spoiler Blog? I want to know more (especially if River Song is involved)! And yeah, I can't remember if he's doing Angel, but if he watches Buffy, there's a good chance he might want to watch Angel.
You and me had almost exactly the same thoughts.
Interesting. Hmm random thought of randomness… Scan for SIlence-modified foetus. Yes. There it is, she's pregnant all right.. Sure? Er, sure about what? Nothing there. Really? Look again. Oh yes, she's pregnant….
I hadn't thought of that! I'd thought that the fetus was jumping back in forth in the timestream, but your theory makes a lot of sense. It would be a great defense mechanism for the Silence to implant. Especially if they want to protect their weapon/product.
Ack, I need to edit this, but I can't. Basically, upon rewatching, I realize that the Silence told Amy she'd been their for "days" not "months". So, not as long as I thought. Still, a sufficiently advanced race of… whatever the hell the Silence are might be able to do the same amount of experimentation within a couple of days. Also, the little girl is clearly wearing a different outfit at the end, so some time has passed for her between her getting out of the spacesuit and that scene.
I very much agree with your theory.
I wonder if the space suit isn't just a survival suit, but also somehow forced her to grow up more quickly…?
I was going to start by asking all the GIF-y people to get on it with making a gif of The Doctor chewing through his handcuffs, but I see someone already posted it, so MISSION ACCOMPLISHED.
THEORIES/COMPLAINTS ABOUT THOSE THEORIES ABOUND!!
The implication this episode seems to be that the little girl is in fact Amy's daughter. Whether that's true, Moffat knows. If it is, I really really hope that the other rumor that she's River Song doesn't also turn out to be true. Because that would absolutely skeeve me out. I'm already creeped out by their relationship because neither of them seem to have a choice in the matter (So Moffat, if you're reading, please find a way to fix this, because I want to love them together but can't can't can't the way you're doing it), I don't want this to go full Twilight with a grown man (900 Year old alien!!) making out with his best friends daughter. Please no. Be wrong about this one internet.
Of course, the real question is, why is there a built-in pregnancy test on the TARDIS?
…
<img src="http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b8/amarvi/BARROWMAN.gif" border="0" alt="Photobucket">
best use of BARROWMAN! gif ever, y/y? seeing as Jack Harkness is probably THE reason for it.
OH MY GOD THIS IS SERIOUSLY THE BEST USE OF THIS GIF EVER.
Random true story time!
My best friend's little brother had just finished reading the Harry Potter books for the first time. My friend was chatting to him about it and mentioned that J.K. Rowling had outed Dumbledore as gay. Her brother paused in shock for a moment, shook his fist and yelled…
'BARROWMAN!'
omfg that is wonderful
Hmm Jack/Dumbledore. Rule 34 No exceptions.
BARROWMAN!
Hahaahhaa.
I have never wanted Captain Jack Harkness to come back as much as I do now. I am currently cleaning up the OJ I sprayed my compu screen with. I love you for this comment!!! <3
Hahahahhaaha, I'm barely containing my laughter in a library. Barrowman indeed.
As much as I enjoyed this episode there were things that annoyed the hell out of me.
The opening
Why did we skip forward 3 months? So they could include dramatic shots of America? Why did the FBI go after them in the first place, why did Canton have to pretend to chase them and pretend to kill them. Why was the Beard!Doctor (who I actually did not recognize in the trailers and only got it when he started talking) tied up and in prison? I get why they made the prison; so they could be sure the Silence weren't there with them but why get the FBI involved? Where the hell did the FBI in the 60s get that stuff anyway?
These aren't the good kind of whys. They don't feel like exciting mysteries they seem so pointless and needlessly confusing.
The female character storylines
So the two main female character's storylines are River's tragic romance with the Doctor and Amy's marriage and now pregnancy. A marriage, a pregnancy and relationship with a guy. I love River and Amy and I don't have problem with these being the possible stories for female characters but when that's what the all stories revolve around it makes me annoyed. There are other things you can do with female characters beside love, marriage and babies.
But I loved the humour, Canton, River being a badass, the acting and so many things.
Theories abound, are we still doing this?
So I think that the Time!Girl is Rory and Amy's Schrodinger's baby who has a time head now cause of being in the Tardis so much also Amy' and Rory are a bit special with all the time-travelling, universe exploding stuff.
The Silence kidnapped the baby cause they want to turn her into a Time Lord. Remember what River said at the beginning of The Impossible Astronaut, that people would 'tear apart this world for a single cell'. Having a Time Lord is apparently something everyone wants and with her they were trying to find someone who could pilot the Lodger Tardis. Maybe the girl was sort of unstable (like so many alien-human hybrids in Sci-Fi) which is why she needed the live support. The end goal of all of this? I don't know, maybe become powerful? be Time Lords themselves? Try to ascend and destroy universe like the Time Lords did?
For fun I watched the Impossible astronaut yesterday with a friend who knows nothing about Doctor Who and really nothing about (she's Japanese, hadn't even heard of it before). She figured out that Amy was pregnant very early on and she thinks that the girl in the spacesuit was obviously Amy's kid. She's actually really really good at predicting stuff but then, she also thought the Doctor was a robot.
I agree with you about the Silence and Amy's (probable) future kid. it's probably to pilot their fake TARDIS. I don't know why. Although I think the Silence somehow did a 'grow your own Timelord!' thing, not necessarily kidnapping Amy's kid….
idk. I'm going with the kid will pilot the fake TARDIS, and the suit's keeping her alive. When we saw her out of the suit, she regenerated.
I NEED to know why your friend thought the doctor was a robot. Like, I don't think I can ever watch TIA again without knowing why this thought occurred to her.
Haha. She thought that cause there were two of them, dead Doctor and suddenly alive Doctor, one must be a robot (a logical conclusion, apparently). I told her her there was time travel involved and she 'ah ok but I don't think the guy who died was the same guy as now'.
I don't really know whether to believe her on this or not but she's good at this kinda stuff. She can pick a love interest or significant character out of a crowd shot looooong before they're introduced.
<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkl5b25B691qdd6huo1_500.gif" alt="silence" />
ROFL Yay! I was so hoping someone would GIF that!
Looking back, I wonder how the episodes would have fared if that technique had been used all the way through; forcing the audience to participate in the frightening lack of knowledge held by the figures onscreen (keep in mind that even the Doctor and his companions defeated the Silence and retained no memory of the aliens' physical appearance). It would have been tremendously difficult to pull off, but even so, I'm slightly disappointed that it wasn't attempted.
This! I mean, it would have made it super extra terrifying because I couldn't just go "I can remember seeing them, therefore they don't really exist", but it would have been kind of amazing to never see them. And the sporadic deleting of times the protags have forgotten seeing then is… a little inconsistent feeling?
There really ought to have been a more detailed explanation of the motivation behind the complex ruse with which the episode started. Killing the companions and presenting Canton as evil made for a stunning twist with which to open the episode, but in-universe, there wasn't much justification for it. A few sentences spent on explaining exactly how and why the conspiracy was set up would have, in retrospect, established a stronger start to the episode.
Yeah, that really needed explained. It seems like it was just AMERICA IS HUGE AND PRETTY LET'S HAVE CHASE SCENES!!!!!
Where on earth did the 1969 US military get a hold of space-age technology with which to build the Doctor's prison? Visually, it was stunning, but made no logical sense whatsoever. Are we supposed to assume that the tech was somehow acquired from the Silence? Who wanted to keep the Doctor contained for some reason? Another plot point which could have made sense with a few moments of explanation.
GOOD POINT. Why did I not question that part? o_O
POTENTIAL ANSWER TO: Where on earth did the 1969 US military get a hold of space-age technology with which to build the Doctor's prison? Visually, it was stunning, but made no logical sense whatsoever. Are we supposed to assume that the tech was somehow acquired from the Silence? Who wanted to keep the Doctor contained for some reason? Another plot point which could have made sense with a few moments of explanation.
It was in Area 51.
SR-91 Aurora anyone?
I assume that's a reference to something, but it's not anything I'm familiar with.
Roswell? Or maybe they got it off Torchwood?
Actually not really.. just. referencing Area 51 and general conspiracies in general. The Aurora is a rumored high tech spy plane that the US has reverse engineered from alien technology. Basically what I was trying to say was that the US got ahold of space-age technology because.. it's Area 51. It's not specific.. but.. Area 51 apparently has developed all sorts of alien tech so.. why not the dwarf star matter prison?
Aliens and shit. Roswell happened in 1947 and the pieces of the spaceship, also bodies, were rumored to be taken first to Ohio, to the air force base near Dayton whose name escapes me despite the fact I live here, and then to Area 51. We know the Doctor was held at Area 51 because it said so on the wall behind him. Also, Moffat has said that the Silence are the cause of the general 'Grey alien' phenomenon among people who have had alien visitations.
So, basically, in this episode, President Nixon is the Doctor's psychic paper. With a fanfare! 😛
Anyway, this episode = ABSOLUTE AND UTTER MINDFUCK.
So I'm not completely out of line for finding the fact that this two-parter was about 80% prologue for something else and completely non-functional as a standalone story irritating as shit? Phew. 😛
I mean, of course I'm going to watch the rest of this season. I watched all of Ten's goodbye specials; that indicates a special level of Who-related masochism. And heaven knows I'm happy to watch Eleven, Amy, Rory, and River and that pretty, pretty cinematography any old time. But this was just all of Moffat's worst tendencies turned up to eleven (heh), and it ended up taking me out of the episode. And if you're not "into" an episode of Doctor Who? Well, all the cracks start to show, and it ain't pretty.
For a start, the resolution of the Silence story was clearly engineered backwards from its ending, and not very convincingly at that. How did the Doctor absolutely know that Canton would extract the sentence "you should kill us on sight?" from the Silent they had captured? He didn't know how the Silence communicated, how they phrased things, what their agenda was, or…well, anything about them, seeing as he couldn't remember diddly-squat about them. The whole plan hinged on that sentence, which, when you're not caught up in the excitement of it all, looks pretty silly.
And why oh why would the TARDIS crew members put hash marks on their faces where they couldn't see them unless they looked in mirrors? What on earth is the point of that when you're on the run from an ever-present enemy and may not have the time to find the nearest reflective surface?
The thing is, normally I would laugh stuff like this off, or probably not even notice it, because hey, it's Doctor Who. But this two-parter gave me nothing to hang on to. When everything is one narrative trick or another, why should I give a crap about what I'm watching? It's just going to be revealed as something else a minute later, or kept completely unexplained for the foreseeable future for the sake of MYSTERIOUSNESS OOOH.
To be fair, Moffat did try a bit in the emotional throughline department. He had River's angst and woe about her backwards affair of the Doctor, and Rory's concern about the Doctor's relationship with Amy. Those two storylines just…don't really do it for me, though. It gets a bit less effective and more annoying if every appearance River makes is filled with portent about the future. Doesn't her affair with the Doctor ever have a happy middle?
And while televised love triangles in general drive me nuts, the whole Doctor/Companion/Boyfriend deal became a special kind of irritating back when it was Ten, Rose, and Mickey, so seeing that Moffat has decided to pick up that unfortunate thread yet again…didn't exactly please me. I thought that type of storyline was dealt with and dismissed last season, that Rory was a deliberate anti-Mickey. But no, here we go with the jealousy and the creepy listening in on the wife's conversations. NOT COOL, RORY.
So, uh…basically, this two-parter didn't work for me. At all. I couldn't get my inner critic to stop snapping at it the entire time because it just didn't take me in. It was so busy trying to show off how CLEVER and SCARY it was and how SERIALIZED the rest of the season was going to be that it…kind of slipped up on creating an engaging story in the present moment. And I normally love continuity-licious and deliberately clever shows! You should have seen my foaming at the mouth over Community's "Paradigms of Human Memory" last week, or LOLing at the way Fringe fucked with all our heads yet again this past Friday. You can see the gears turning in those shows, too, but for some reason I don't care, and for some reason with Moffat Who I've lost that cushion of grace. 🙁
I just really hope that the rest of this season is awesome and I can dismiss the premiere story as an anomaly that was slightly too pleased with itself. Then I can be happy with everyone else and not feel dense and stupid for not loving this.
Of the many, many questions, this one…
'And why oh why would the TARDIS crew members put hash marks on their faces where they couldn't see them unless they looked in mirrors? '
..also occurred to me this morning… I mean, how do you tell you're up to the cross mark, TARDIS crew? 😉
I thought about that issue of putting marks on their faces. My theory is that Amy wanted herself to see the marks and the monsters at the same time so she would make the connection that she wasn't seeing 1 Silence multiple times, she was seeing lots of Silences (Silencie? Silence? Is there a plural naming convention yet?). She put the marks on her face so when she looked in the reflection, she would see marks plus monster/s in the reflection, without having to look away from the monsters down at her arm, and could leave herself a message not to look up (or something). Rory just ran out of room on the rest of his body. Okay, that still has holes. But it was an awesomely creepy scene in execution.
"It gets a bit less effective and more annoying if every appearance River makes is filled with portent about the future. Doesn't her affair with the Doctor ever have a happy middle? "
Yes this is bothering me too, I want to see this. It's really hard to appreciate sad moments if we don't see what's being lost.
I was satisfied with the Amy/Rory resolution from last season, I don't really want to see it regurgitated, and tbh in a shallow but more angsty way that makes it a lot less endearing than the first time around…how all this ties into certain other plots in the season just worries me and I'm kind of dreading to find all this out.
I hope I'm extremely wrong.
I love your comments, keep them up!
Now I thoroughly enjoyed this but I think the jury has to be out on whether or not it's good storytelling or not. In fact, so far, it's hardly storytelling at, just an assemblage of gimmicks. if you take out all the stuff that's set-up for something we're yet to see resolved we're left with a miniscule and barely credible story. Most things seem to exist to look creepy on screen and then be given a brief explanation. Why are they tallying on their bodies? Because it looks good – if they're organised enough to have pens on strings around their necks, why not have pads as well?
What's the story of The Silence? We still don't know – and to some extent that's OK if it's a set-up that's going to be paid off. But the Silence and their occupation is a major driver of this story and we're told next to nothing about it – except that they're some sort of parasite and they're driving the human race through the power of suggestion. This then gets resolved in the most contrived and filppant way possible – with Canton getting the most unlikely kill order from a Silent on camera (they can build an advanced space suit thing but they don't recognize a camera phone) and the Doctor apparently happy for the largely unarmed Earth population to try and kill Silents on sight even though he knows nothing about them or their ability to kill humans (which we've seen). And, in story terms, we don't get to see the story of the human resistance (expect for one brief "shooting the silence" scene) we just get a pat resolution to the central danger of the two episodes.
Now this may all be rescued by the way the season develops but the story we've been told so far is a bit rubbish.
Luckily all the arbitrary contrivance sets up some wonderful character moments and set pieces – so, like I said, I really enjoyed it. But I have to stop thinking about what the contrivances imply in order to keep that enjoyment. Now I'm not a fan of "it has to be consistent" "world-building" school of SF thinking but this is pretty much the limit of tolerance of arbitrary nonsense. And it's not clever, it's just complicated, which isn't the same thing at all.
Still it'll all be OK as a set-up if the pay-off is really good. Although I prefer the Doctor Who where you get a story that actually works independently of the season arc.
In more general terms, I'm happy that RTD took the show pretty much as far as it could go in the direction of his thematic and stylistic ideas and that Moffat is now doing a similar thing. However, I don't think I'll be able to take it if he tries to carry it on beyond series seven. Too much of it is gimmickry and gimmickry relies on novelty. Even if the gimmicks were always new it would become wearying but Moffat has been reusing his own gimmicks since "The Curse of the Fatal Death" and "Continuity Errors" so more than a couple of years or so and it'll become unbearable.
Still, early days. I'm hoping there are strong stories to come and Moffat seems to be handling the character arcs really well (help by some strong performances – Arthur Darville was amazing in this). And I'm willing to forget how idiotic "The Pandorica Opens" is because the dramatic effect over the two parts is so wonderful.
But if someone tries to convince me this is brilliant complex writing a may get unreasonable – it's highly entertaining cobbled together nonsense, flying very close to the point where this kind of thing becomes unwatchable. But it's not big or clever – although hopefully it's the set up for something that is.
One last thing. It isn't worth taking Lawrence Miles seriously (and definitely not worth getting involved in an online debate about him) but he is always interesting and this is very funny:
http://beasthouse-lm2.blogspot.com/
He regularly deletes his blog entries, so get it while it's still there.
Oh ye gods, Lawrence Miles. He is often interesting, but less often right and more often a massive sexist toolbag who can hold a ludicrous grudge like nobody's business.
I don't think I've ever agreed with any of his arguments but they have made me think about things I wouldn't otherwise have thought of. That's more than I can say about a lot of online commentary.
Ultimately though, he's a deeply floored individual with a blog, which is why he isn't worth taking seriously. The personal/professional stuff that leaks through is nasty and disquieting, though.
The rest of it makes a lot of sense if you realise he's trying to be like Stewart Lee.
Go team Tardis!
<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkj8hrskLr1qdyt4xo1_500.jpg" alt="teamtardis" />
I truly wish Canton was in that picture 🙁
I know 5 people wouldn't really work in that picture and he's not a 'proper' companion…I just love him :
The Doctor
Defeated The Master.
Destroyed the Daleks.
And yet…
Pwned by handcuffs.
<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkhhekr0xy1qc7bnqo1_500.gif" alt="handcuffs" />
Looks like the Space Teeth are no match for Earth Handcuffs.
Handcuffs. Must it always end this way?
<3
The Eleventh Doctor, Prime Minister of Cloud Cuckooland.
The creepy bit is where he's making humans slaughter aliens without the consent of the former.
But he couldn't get consent, it wouldn't have been possible based on the whole concept of the Silence. The idea was that he was 'leading a revolution', and he's doing what people would if they were aware of what was happening. The Silence had already invaded Earth and the Doctor was helping them revolt because they couldn't have done it themselves. The idea of a global revolution without violence against an invading species is kind of unfeasible so some Silents had to die. I guess the Doctor just assuming that people would violently eject the Silence if they knew about them is kind of creepy but it's not like he's never make decisions on behalf of Earth before, often with worse consequences. Whatever, I enjoyed it.
But Moffat chose to write things this way. He chose to write that situation and he chose to write that resolution, and…well, that resolution is creepy. Given how many plot holes abounded in this episode and the fact that…well, this is Doctor Who, the show of Applied Phlebotinums Galore, I'm sure he could have come up with another way.
My bitching is generally Doylist, because on that level there's always a choice. 🙂
Yeah I guess I agree. I just thought it was handled better than the usual 'aliens invade earth' stories, but there's always going to be a bunch of problems with those if you look into them too much.
It's not Doctor Who if there are no plot holes. 🙂 It's just that the plot holes aren't usually this…unsettling.
As long as it doesn't involve fucking a paving slab I'm generally OK with it.
I loved the episode. It had me crying out loud to the tv, and actually crying, and I love when a tv show does that, gets a big reaction from me.
I love how they brought up whether Rory remembered his time as an auton, I really hope they bring it up again and put his memories to use.
And Rory in a suit was just awesome, please wear more awesome clothes, Rory.
<img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/15moahu.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
<img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/16humfp.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
I’ll probably have to wait until the end of the series, but Rory is on his way to being my favourite companion. I just loved every scene with him in it. Rory loves Amy even when he doubts that she loves him back, and he’s always there for her. And I laugh at how awkward he is. It helps that Arthur does a really great acting job.
I can say that I really love River now, and I’ll be sad when we see her for her first time. When we get to her first time meeting the Doctor, I plan on watching the episodes with her in them in the order that they happened to her. It’ll give a different view on things.
Look, awesomeness
<img src="http://i52.tinypic.com/10mjwh4.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
And I just wanted to post this cute face he makes
<img src="http://i54.tinypic.com/21alqg6.jpg" border="0" alt="Image and video hosting by TinyPic">
And then there’s the ending. I’d read in the SFX teasers (I think it was SFX), that the ending was super unexpected, but I did not think it would be anything close to that. I have seen the theories of who the girl is, but there are a couple that keep popping up that I don’t think would be true, because I think Steven will give us a super surprise, not something really predictable.
I found Rory attractive in that suit. And normally I find those kinds of glasses hideous.
I guess I'm attracted to Rory in Centurion gear and suits? Cool.
But, okay, they've all seen the Moon Landing before. How come they didn't try to kill the Silents? Except when they did, I mean. I mean, before. I mean, after. I mean, you know…..
They/we have, but by the set-in-the-future episodes, the Silence have found some way to work around the post-hypnotic kill-order. And they are a wee bit pissed.
Yay! Someone else who calls them the Silents.
I don't know if anyone else watched the hour long Doctor Who In America thing that aired after the ep on BBCA? (I was all GLEE, It's like I can see Doctor Who Confidential!) I *love* that Moffat has told Alex Kingston all of River's story so she can play it right, and I love that Alex is all ah-ah, spoilers!~ I love that every actor knows things about their character that they can't tell anyone else.
I watched that and I think it makes perfect sense to do that when you're dealing with such a mysterious character. It reminds me of the Harry Potter movies and how Rowling told Alan Rickman about Snape's big secret long before "Deathly Hallows" came out so that he could play him right.
Is it really a Schrodinger Baby? My knowledge of theoretical physics and quantum and all that is virtually nil, but I thought that the idea of Schrodinger's Cat is that you didn't know if it was alive or dead until you observed it, much like two quantum-entangled systems can't be described independently of each other.
But Amy's embryo/not embryo is being observed. The TARDIS pregnancy scanner opened the box, so to speak, and the cat is both alive and not. So Schrodinger doesn't seem like quite the right comparison to draw, funny though it may be.
Or, you know, I could be a law student who has no idea what she's talking about. 🙂
I too have no real idea about quantum physics and all that hooey (:P I'm a bio nerd, it's incomprehensible to me!) but I assume we're going with the opening of the box to be well… giving birth? Except by that point it'll be pretty obvious so I'm clearly just talking out of my arse!
this is extra funny cause box is slang for female genitalia.
Well, if the point is the scanner somehow can't observe or measure the (not-)embryo, then that's effectively what the point of the parallel is.
So basically, why assume the scanner did open the box? Since it didn't get a concrete reading.
I guess I assumed the scanner was an observer and therefore did "open" the box. Then again, not everyone agrees that the cat's two states collapse into one (either alive or dead) once it's observed. Maybe there's one world/timeline in which Amy is pregnant and one in which she isn't, and observation doesn't really matter. 🙂 Maybe the TARDIS, since it's kind of outside of time, sees both timelines in its scan, but if Amy got a pregnancy test on earth the results would collapse one way or the other.
(My quantum physics knowledge ran out ages ago; I'm just riffing here.)
Ooh, the different world/timeline thing is a cool thought.
(sounded good. And my interest is always more bio than physics, so it's not like I care.)
If we're going by actual physics (and I'm probably going to get the specifics wrong, but hopefully I'll be in the right general area):
It's not a Schrodinger Baby because Schrodinger's Cat (and by extension a baby based on the same principle) is a deliberate nonsense intended to show how stupid the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics is. Briefly the Heisenberg uncertainty principle states that it is not possible to simultaneously measure the velocity and the position of a particle – the more accurately you know one, the less accurately you know the other. The Copenhagen interpretation of this suggests that the position and velocity of particles be expressed as probability waves with the various possibilities superimposed on each other until a measurement is made and the wave collapses to a single data point. Importantly, it states that this is an aspect of reality, rather than a shortcoming of the measuring process.
Schrodinger's cat, then is a thought experiment that is a philosophical critique of the idea of superimposition. The cat is in a sealed box with its fate decided at random by a radioactive isotope that will tigger a cyanide capsule. The point is that the cat isn't alive and dead until it is measured – that's clearly nonsense. It's either alive or dead you just don't know which until you look. Or, to put it another way: if a cat dies in a forest and nobody is there to smell it, does it produce an odour? Yes, of course it does.
The thing is, though, that matter behaves differently at the quantum level than it does at the macro level. So Schrodinger's cat doesn't definitively point to a flaw in the Copenhagen interpretation. But even if the interpretation is correct it doesn't hold at the level of the existence of mammals. So, Quantum mechanics doesn't allow the possibility of a real Schrodinger's cat or a Scrodinger's baby. The cat is either alive or dead. The baby either exists or it doesn't.
Still, the whole Weeping Angel "quantum locked" thing shows that Moffat is either ignorant of quantum mechanics or doesn't especially care about following it – so we could end up with some sort of quantum explanation. Equally, a time-travel based paradox is just as feasible within the fictional universe.
Can I just ask a question to all the Brits/non-Americans around here? I was wondering as I watched this two-parter what of the references to American history non-Americans actually understood. Like many nations, America tends to see itself as the center of the universe and many people just assume that everyone knows our history, but while we learn quite a bit of British and European history in American schools (as we're such a young country), I don't think that any American history is really taught in Europe (except as it relates to world history). So. Do you know anything about Jefferson, Adams or Hamilton? What do you know about Watergate, Tricky Dicky or David Frost? Inquiring minds want to know! XD
but while we learn quite a bit of British and European history in American schools (as we're such a young country)
Really? My experience with Americans has lead me to think the opposite but maybe it's just the people I've met. I'm not being sarcastic or making statements about Americans I just thought you learned more about your own history than other countries' (like most places in the world).
Well I'm Irish and while we learned about the American Revolution and I think also the colonization of America in school but I'd say most of knowledge actually comes more from the American media we get. In Ireland almost all of the TV shows/movies/music we have is American and after American, British so we're not unfamiliar with American cultural references but maybe not specific history.
I knew that Jefferson, Adams and Hamilton were figures in American history (nothing more though) and about Watergate and that Tricky Dicky referred to Richard Nixon.
Regarding the first paragraph, I went ahead and looked up the California curriculum, just because I became curious, and couldn't remember what I'd learned: http://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/hs/cf/
So K-5 focuses on the US pretty much entirely.
Grade 6 focuses on "World History and Geography: Ancient Civilizations", 7 on "World History and Geography: Medieval and Early Modern Times".
8 focuses on the US again. 9 doesn't require history. 10 is "World History, Culture, and Geography: The Modern World", which encompasses some US history in the sense that we played some role in WW1 and 2, but wasn't at all focused on the US. And 11 and 12 is the US again.
So out of 12 grades (since I'm excluding grade 9), 3 years are supposed to be explicitly not about the US in focus.
Thanks for the reply. It seems to be a quite a bit broader than what we have here. I'm actually surprised.
For primary schools (age 4-12) the curriculum is vaguely defined.
For junior cert ( age 12-15) it's all Irish history starting with pre-Christian Ireland, through plantations, industrial revolution up to Irish independence and early Irish state (from experience I know this is done in much more detail than anything else). It only goes outside Ireland for the Renaissance, colonization and revolutions, and of course World War 1 and 2.
For Leaving (age 15-18) they go into more detail with 'World' (actually European) history and US history is one of the options in there.
Looking at it now, it's embarrassingly centred on Ireland
I forgot one thing: For leaving history is only one of several options and most people don't take it.
Yep, echinodermata is right on the mark with the curriculum (I've just finished high school, so I would know! XD). I'm afraid there is a general impression that the rest of the world has that America is completely self-centered, but the thing is, our (recorded) history only goes back about 200 years. As I remember it from my own experiences, grades K-5 was basically History: It Exists, 6th grade wasancient civilizations, 7th grade was world history, 8th grade was US history, 9th grade didn't require history (at some schools I believe you can take ancient civilizations again), 10th grade was world history (which only included US history in terms of the World Wars, but teachers weren't allowed to focus much on the US's role because it encroached on the next year's curriculum), 11th was US history, and 12th was US government (which includes a unit at the beginning of the year about European philosophers to understand where the US system came from). Which I realize is basically exactly what was already said, but there it is from a non-theoretical standpoint, I suppose.
"grades K-5 was basically History: It Exists"
Haha, yeah. Actually, the curriculum of the early years said to focus on your "neighborhood" and "local region" but I figured that would still mean CA so close enough. Also, some of the history was about Native Americans, so pre-white people and pre-USA.
"9th grade didn't require history (at some schools I believe you can take ancient civilizations again),"
My school had "Development of Western Civilization", which was basically Mesopotamia, then Greek and Roman history. But as you said, it was elective.
And my senior year was actual a semester of government and a semester of econ. There was some US-centric parts to econ, but a lot of it was just supply and demand sort of stuff. Since I only got a semester of gov, I didn't get that philosophy bit, though.
Huh! I can't remember at all learning about the history of "my local region"…Native Americans a bit, and I guess Lewis & Clark would fall under that category, but other than that I can't remember learning a lot about the history of MT. But who knows! That was a long time ago. XD
I did wonder whether most of the US history non-Americans get is through media. There was, after all, that "Frost v. Nixon" movie that came out the other year, and god knows there are plenty of historically inaccurate American revolution movies out there. XD
I don't know anything about any of them. Pretty much the only bits of US history I remember studying were JFK, and Titanic. But I did drop history at the first opportunity (age 13) because it involved essays and I sucked at essays. Kind of regretted it later when my friends got to learn about interesting things and I was stuck being rubbish at Drama :/
It's going to vary a lot by generation though. The national curriculum has changed its opinion on what parts of history are important a lot in the last few decades.
When Eleven told Nixon to say hi to David Frost I turned to my dad and was all "…does he have something to do with Watergate?"
And I *am* American, but I'm 19. And all I really know about Watergate is that it was a scandal about Nixon. With tapes of something? And there was a source called Deep Throat? Or is that something else?
Man, now I have Manic Street Preachers – The Love Of Richard Nixon in my head.
Oh, and I don't know where you went to school, but we most certainly did not learn lots of british or european history. We learned about MANIFEST DESTINY and the BOSTON TEA PARTY and the REVOLUTIONARY WAR and the OREGON TRAIL!
Nixon spied on one of the Democratic buildings and tried to get information from the place, I think. Sadly I didn't know what the whole Watergate deal was until my second year of college.
Wow, where did YOU go to school? I can't imagine anyone at my school being allowed to graduate without knowing about Watergate, nor without learning an ample amount about European/world history. Regional differences, I guess!
Arizona. We're either worst or second worst in the nation on education scores and either worst or second worst on education funding. I learned some world history in tenth grade, but that was just one of the options for social studies credit – you could take US History or US Government instead.Oh, and there is the point that I didn't actually graduate high school, I dropped out after sophmore year and got my GED. Maybe they learn about Watergate in the US History class I didn't take?
I understood the references, and I know who all the people are, but I won't claim to have very deep knowledge on the subjects. I would say we learn a fair bit of American history here though (I'm Swedish). The way I remember my education in history it went:
Grade 1 – 3 we learned mostly about the stone age, bronze age, iron age and norse mythology. Then grade 4-6 there's a big focus on The Middle ages and Swedish/European history. And Grade 7-9 is where there's more world history, American history, the industrial revolution, the world wars, and the other major events of the 1900's.
I'm British and I studied some American history in school…I think it depends, I remember learning about McCarthyism and the red scare. We also did a lot on civil rights and Martin Luther King, but that was about it. There just wasn't time to get that much done!
But things like Watergate are pretty much common knowledge. The references to taping everything that goes on in that office were pretty obvious and I doubt anyone was confused. There are things about historical events you just pick up, y'know? Regardless of where they happened.
Actually, I have to admit, I'm pretty surprised at this too. I was under the impression Americans learnt more of their own history and little of other countries? Shows how much I know, eh?
I don't know exactly where you got that impression, but I think it's probably all too prevalent; we don't exactly have the best international image right now (understatement). To be fair (and as I went on about at much more length a few posts up), recorded American history only goes back a little over 200 years. Unlike in England, where you can learn about the Roman invasion and the Dark Ages and Henry VIII and all that, when we learn about the centuries before the 1700s, it HAS to be about other countries. There's no other options! So we learn lots about ancient Greece and Rome, some about South American empires, a lot about the Renaissance, the French Revolution, European colonialism in Africa…etc. etc. I imagine you have a lot more to cover in your own history than we do!
Oh yeah, don't get me wrong, I'm sure it's a massive prejudice to think that Americans only learn their own history!
From what you (and other people) have said, I think it's pretty similar over here. We don't really learn any more 'British History' as such, than any other countries. Sure, I did the Tudors and Victorian England, but I also did a fair bit on Ancient Greece, the slave trade, civil rights in America (as I mentioned) and both World Wars, which kind of involved most people. 😛
Mind you, I did History as a subject right up until the end of school; I know a lot of people who dropped it and I do think it's shame. I know I'm being a bit of a history geek here, but it's always pretty shocking to me that History was a subject you could drop, and P.E. wasn't. I mean, those who don't remember history are condemned to repeat it, right?
Having said that, I dropped geography, which is why I don't know where anything is. So I guess I can't talk. 😛
Er… I didn't get a lot of them. I know watergate was some sort of scandal that forced Nixon to quit (yes?) and had something to do with missing recordings. And of course everyone's seen the moon landing but for me its usually only through movies and TV shows, not through school. No idea who David Frost was/is.
The history I studied over here was The World Wars, Russia, Black Civil Rights movement and Vietnam. So we were kind of balanced between America and Europe I suppose? I actually skipped the year where we studied New Zealand's History so technically I should know less.
But I think even if you never STUDIED the History of the country you're living in you're going to pick it up. You guys would probably actually want to know exactly what happened with Nixon (you seem to love/hate your presidents a LOT and need to know about them) whereas in NZ we don't really need to know and its not something we'd discuss in conversation.
I can't say I've seen the moon landing in school either, to be honest. That's interesting, though, about the president thing. I guess I can't imagine Americans NOT caring about Nixon's scandal–I mean, it involved highly illegal spying on his opponent to basically rig the election, lying to the courts and blackmailing a whole network of people into also committing perjury, so obviously people weren't so thrilled. 😛
My knowledge of Frost/Nixon comes from the movie… Frost/Nixon.
sad, I know.
One of these days i'm gonna man up and read around the damn thing. (UK female btw)
You know, I don't think I ever actually noticed that!
Thanks!!
I am just holding out hope forever that Jenny will return, because she is awesome.
All I have to say is GOOD JOB DOCTOR FOR MAKING NIXON EVEN MORE PARANOID. (Eleven, you TROLL. And I say that lovingly.)
Buaha. Love the thought process!
THIS MAY BE ILLEGAL AND I AM SORRY, BUT I AM REPOSTING MY THEORIES BC THEY WERE TRAPPED IN A THREAD AND I WANT TO KNOW WHAT EVERYONE ELSE THINKS, GOOD OR BAD.
THEORIES ABOUND SO DON'T READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW
I think the little girl is Amy and Rory's child, and something wonky is happening in utero to the kid, which is why when the Doctor scans her it's Pos/Neg/Pos/Neg. I don't know what explanation Moffet will eventually give us, but I think maybe a growing baby is somehow super sensitive to the time travel? So EITHER (what I think is more likely) the kid is dying, regenerating, dying, regenerating, etc IN THE WOMB, or it's somehow traveling around and popping in and out (less likely, but Moffet is a BAMF).
ALSO, I think it is the kid in the space suit, bc when River was scanning it and explaining what it does for the person inside, it sounds like it'll keep someone alive forevereverever, and the kid obviously was dying for really no reason at the end in the ally. She busted out of the suit that they built her TO KEEP HER ALIVE. And now she's back to regenerating all the time for no reason. JUST LIKE WHEN SHE WAS INSIDE AMY.
That's what I have to say, and I'm sticking to it!
Most of my feelings about this episeode have already been said by other people, so i thought i'd mention two small things that popped into my head while watching this episode:
1) When Amy is in the orphanage and looks up at the sleeping silents/silence, i was reminded of the Firefly episode Bushwacked where River looks up at the victims of the reavers hanging from the ceiling. Very creepy
2) I study Archaeology at university (though i don't get taught anything like what River Song can do) and one of the famous archaeologists I have to study is called Dr Renfrew, so now whenever i see his name all i see is that crazy orphanage guy and i get the feeling that the silence are near.
1: YES. I WAS TOO.
I try not to think of bats, though. I imagine that that's what they meant (and the Silence sort of look like vampire bats a little) but I would have as many problems with Doctor Who portraying bats as though inherently evil as I would them portraying a certain race or sexual orientation as inherently evil.
I love bats and am planning on getting a PhD studying them, and I hatehatehate bat stereotypes. Same as snake stereotypes and dog breed stereotypes.
Sorry. Rant!
Just replying to say "Yay bats" <3
maybe they teach archaeology differently in the 51st century? Maybe tombs (haha, "I love a tomb") are much more guarded and need bad-a** Indiana Jones archaeologists. IDK
This requires regenerations not be limited to 13 (12? I forget.), though.
If the child isn't a Time Lord, maybe that means she can regenerate indefinitely?
But if she isn't, then we have to explain why she can regenerate in the first place. If the time vortex energy (which, as we've seen, *is* gold) has the same effect, then it wouldn't have been about to kill Rose? Though I guess it would explain why Nine regenerated? Hm. Maybe it was going to regenerate Rose, and the Doctor figured he could better spare a regeneration? TIME VORTEX ENERGY AS REGENERATION ENERGY REQUIRES MORE THOUGHT.
Captain Jack first appeared in a Moffat-written episode (The Empty Child). So there's the first Maffat-penned gay character.
There's a great quote from Moffat on the Empty Child DVD commentary. Can't remember the exact wording but it's something like "8 episodes with a gay show runner and nothing, *I* come along and look what happens…".
"LET'S SEE IF MY HANDS WORK BETTER BEHIND MY BACK"
Ahahaha!
Oh Doctor, I love you cause you make me, during my first proper kiss, look totally together and confident :):)
The orphanage bit actually bothered me because I was like OMG YOU GUYS THERE IS LITERAL WRITING ON THE WALL HERE. But it was delightfully creepy. More and more hashmarks appearing on Amy's skin and the tension and then OH SHIT THEY'RE ON THE CEILING NOOOOOOOO.
I'm curious to see how long before Who nerds start getting hashmark tattoos. I WOULD APPROVE 😀
I don't even know what to make of half of the things that went on in this episode, so I'm just going to roll with it for now to prevent further brainsplosions.
Guh. Tumblr keeps providing me with amazing pictures.
<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkl4nkIKOr1qb8trko1_500.jpg " alt="doctor who" />
<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkl542ecUJ1qdhkuro1_500.gif " alt="doctor who" />
<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lki80jtgLI1qe5ejto1_400.gif " alt="doctor who" />
<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkl7yjrPDZ1qbyuu3o1_500.gif " alt="doctor who" />
<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkl82zpaz31qbyuu3o1_400.gif " alt="doctor who" />
<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lki2vik4vl1qe5sdso1_500.gif " alt="doctor who" />
That last macro was such an awesome moment. This is why the aliens prefer to invade the UK, fewer people there are heavily armed! They come to America, and people will break out the semiautomatics.
…Oh no, I just came up with a reasonable justification for ridiculously lax gun control laws! They're gonna revoke my lefty liberal card now, aren't they?
This is so how imagined an alien invasion of America would go down. 😛
In Britain, we'd just flail and offer them tea. That's why the Doctor has to constantly save us.
Thank you for making the Remembrall super sinister.
I loved it when Canton shot the Silent. I was like "YOU ARE IN AMERICA, SHOOT SOMETHING GOSHDARNIT"
I think that was my thought when I first saw the trailer in December, before I found out it was Matt Smith under there.
Hey there 😀
Long time reader of Mark watches/reads, first time poster.
<img src="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkl7x8qFZL1qbxmza.gif">
WHAT JUST HAPPENED?
STEVEN MOFFAT WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY MIND AND HOW DO YOU EXPECT US TO WAIT A WHOLE WEEK FOR NEXT EPISODE?
Did a couple of cute vectors for the last two episodes, and plan on doing one for every episode/monster of this season (and possibly backtracking.)
<img src="http://i53.tinypic.com/2aenp0o.png"><img src="http://i51.tinypic.com/mmymno.pngj">
if you're interested, stay tuned here and here 🙂
oh wow those are fantastic! (and adorable, or is that just me?) Looking forward to seeing more of these!
EDIT: just checked out your deviantart page and omg YOU DID LOST AND HARRY POTTER TOO! Love it all.
thank you very much! 😀
aha, you have no idea how difficult it was to make the silence cute.
Same numbered list format as last week.
1) Still not really clear how we got from the end of TIA to the beginning of DotM. What happened after Amy shooting the girl to lead to the FBI jailing the Doctor and hunting down the companions? How did Rory and River escape the Silence? When did Canton defect to the Doctor's side?
2) Loved seeing Our Heroes revealing the fast one they'd pulled on the FBI with the Doctor standing up and Amy and Rory sitting up in their body bags.
3) Amy saying she was wrong led me to conclude I was right about her brain computing 2 + 2 – Silence = fetus. Of course, now it seems to be more complicated than that.
4) I hadn't caught the Doctor saying information about the Silence erases itself given enough time on the first watch. ("Why didn't you tell me this before we started?") It makes me think Moffat got the idea for them from SCP-055 — quite appropriate, given the nature of what I believe was the site's first entry.
5) No idea what's up with Seven of Nine and her room there. Though I did expect an "Are you my mummy?" And I've never even seen The Empty Child or The Doctor Dances in full.
6) I'm bad enough with faces that I wasn't actually sure it was the same girl each time we saw her.
7) Always good to have a Nixon handy to clear the path. 😀 Better than psychic paper!
8) "Incredibly strong and running away. I like her!" Eleven is good with kids, isn't he? Maybe it's from hanging around a seven-year-old for an hour or so while he was "still cooking."
9) "This is a videophone. Whatever a videophone is." What, Canton didn't see 2001: A Space Odyssey? He can see plain as day that the gizmo in his hand has a keypad like the ones that started being rolled out on telephones years ago, along with a tiny screen showing what's in front of him like there's a camera lens in that tiny black circle up front (which he can confirm by putting his finger over it). Moreover, if I'd been reading a sci-fi novel in the 1960s (putting aside my having been born in the 1980s), and I'd seen a line like "Joe's scowling face appeared on the videophone's screen," I think that'd suffice for me to guess what a "videophone" was. The "radio : television :: telephone : ???" analogy had already caught the public's imagination.
10) "…draw lots, or have a quiz…" The Pandorica Opens, anyone?
11) I'm willing to bet YouTube views for the moon landing have spiked in the past day or two. The comments certainly support that. …Still the usual conspiracy theorists, though. *sigh* I know my parents saw it live, but maybe I should make sure my little sister's seen it — y'know, just to get her inoculated. 🙂
12) I'm now convinced that Moffat changed his mind sometime in the past three years on how exactly the Doctor's relationship with River worked, because SitL/FotD gave the distinct impression that they were meeting in no particular order and that it was just a more-or-less coincidence that the first for him was the last for her. (She did not say "You're younger than I've ever seen you!" as though it were a regular event.) Bit disappointing; I think jumping around works better.
13) The recorder's going to reappear. Calling it now.
14) If the girl does turn out to be Amy's, I vote we nickname her Chibiusa.
…203 comments, many of which make this largely redundant. There were 2 when I started this. I need to start doing what the rest of you do and type these things up before the post.
I actually find it a little annoying that everyone has started typing out their comments beforehand. I like to read what Mark has to say before just posting my thoughts – that's kind of why I follow this blog!
I guess it makes it easier though, in case your internet buggers up halfway through typing a long post and you lose the whole thing. I do understand that.
And I do enjoy reading everyone's thoughts, especially now people have started basically writing their own reviews of episodes in the comments! It's like loads of reviews for the price of one!
I suppose what I'm trying to say is, there's no rush to get your comment out on the first page every time! I for one read all the comments, because I want to see what everyone thinks. 😛
As far as Amy not telling Rory first, a lot of women don't immediately tell the father of the child first because it's such an overwhelming thing. They tell someone they trust who can talk them down from the excitement and the fear and the OMGWTF of pregnancy before the woman in question goes and tells their significant other/father of the baby/dunno what the relationship is person. So I didn't find that weird.
That regenerating little girl? WHAT THE FUCK.
I lovelovelove the idea of the baby regenerating in the womb!! Maybe not-fully-done humans can't handle the Time Vortex, so it kills them, but the TARDIS is so awesome that it gives them the power to regenerate? And maybe then, the baby wouldn't be able to live outside of the womb or TARDIS? So that's why the suit is so special…and maybe also part of the reason why the Silence wanted that guy to watch over the girl to keep her safe?
THERE ARE SO MANY QUESTIONS ALREADY THIS SEASON!!
I love that the Doctor was basically just playing out his discussion with Kazran about kissing. 😀
Re: episode.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8w95xIdH4o
Oh no I've gone cross-eyed.
(And yes, there are Whovians now posting the comments of that video and the views have jumped thousands since yesterday. I love us. Also GIFs. I AM IN NEED OF GIFS OF AUSTIN POWERS AND DOCTOR WHO.)
Theories Abound
I am firmly of the belief that the child is River/Doctor's child. I am reading lots of other theories and it hurts me too much to think that a baby/child would go through as much as people are theorizing if the child were not actually part Timelord. I also hope that the child is Timelord because I like the idea that regeneration is exclusive to a species and not the cause of traveling in the TARDIS. Many other species travel through time and space (Daleks) and are not granted special powers of regeneration. Also, I would hope that this is not the first time a child has been conceived on a TARDIS or even the Doctor's TARDIS, though of course we haven't seen any of it.
I think this episode has barely scratched the surface with answers and that we are just going to have to hold it in our minds and enjoy some more episodes of Doctor Who before we find out. Sadly, I feel as though we could have used a Part 3 and rushed some things a little less.
ALSO. The girl will regenerate and I think the TARDIS crew will have to encounter her later and have no idea who she is.
ALSO ALSO ALSO. ALSO. That lady with the patch over her eye and the funny door? Where did that lady go? Was the lady a robot? Did Amy shoot the lady in the eye and then forget and they saw a child in the spacesuit? Did Amy not miss? AAAHH.
Oh no I've gone cross-eyed.
The Dr Who wiki says that if the show hadn't been canceled, Ace was going to go to school to become a Time Lord. (…because future plans for a cancelled series are totes canon?) And not all Gallifreyans were Time Lords, afaik? So not necessarily because of time travel, but I think it's something they invented rather than something innate.
'oh no i've gone cross-eyed'
Austin Powers?
That's a reference to the link to Austin Powers YouTube video at the start of my post.
She looked like one of THE BORG. And a bit like River Song. But besides that? I've got nothing.
Did Amy shoot the lady in the eye and then forget
"Why do you wear that stupid human suit?"
So. What an episode, huh?
I definitely think I preferred it to the last one. It felt more like a cohesive whole, where part one felt like a bunch of separate (but enjoyable) parts, all with very different atmospheres and feelings. Here the whole thing had a very constant creepy vibe, albeit one lightened by DW’s trademark humour.
One thing I have to applaud Moffat for is how quickly he distracts us. This time last week, we were all thinking;“how are they going to get around the Doctor’s death?” Now we’re completely concerned with “omg Schrodinger’s Fetus” and “AMY’S KID IS A TIME LORD?!?” Of course, among all that we’re also left wondering; is that actually Amy’s kid? Is she from the future, or did Amy already give birth thanks to memory loss and time travel? And a million other questions of course, but we’ve successfully forgotten about the death thing, at least for a little while. The most frustrating thing is that we’ll need to wait weeks for these answers, possibly until the end of autumn.
I really did enjoy this episode, though, even omitting all the wham reveals and the like. I really loved the explanation of the markings on the body. At first I was afraid it would be a rehashing of “The Satan Pit”, but the episode made the concept its own with incredibly creepy implication behind it. How horrible would it be to look down and see your body covered, and to realise you couldn’t even remember the last x minutes? I think that scene with Amy in the abandoned room and the Silence sleeping about her might one of the most genuinely scary things ever.
The humour in this episode really was good. I loved the Doctor’s line about how “She does that,” in reference to River jumping off buildings, the Armstrong’s foot thing, and a million other little one-liners. Rory accidently breaking that model also gets major props for understated awkward comedy. (Also, can I note that Rory should wear those glasses in all the episodes?)
In terms of characterisation, I loved it. I was definitely a bit leery when we started up with “Which guy will Amy choose” plot, not only because I’m not big on love triangles, but also because I didn’t want this to be a rehashing of Amy’s choice. It was definitely redeemed by the utter tragedy of Rory’s 2000 years (which I’m glad they’re acknowledging, btw), and also the revelation that at least in this episode, there was never any doubt in Amy’s mind. I also really liked River in this episode, more than any of the other she’s been in. I’m not sure if it’s because she’s just grown on me over time, or if the actors are developing better chemistry, or the script- maybe a mix of all three. But I like it. I’m also definitely starting to lean towards ElevenXRiver shipping, even though I’m not big into romance. Canton also continued to be a wonderful delight, and I would be absolutely thrilled if he returned later in the season. Not to mention, I liked the tie in to the marriage thing; it always makes me smile when those open minded lines get slipped into any form of media.
One thing I’m starting to hope won’t get repeated too much over Moffat’s season is his trait of killing characters off, but not really. We had that with River in her introduction episode, Amy died in the Pandorica opens, the Doctor died in the Big Bang, and Rory ‘died’ three times in the past season. Add that to the temporary deaths we’ve had so far this season, just too episodes in, makes me afraid that this is going to get real old, real soon.
I’m also slightly confused about why Rory, River and Amy were being hunted in the beginning, and why the Doctor was being held hostage. I mean, wasn’t Nixon on their side? So why were they all being hunted by the government? And what benefited them to pretend that Canton was hunting them?
Overall, I really enjoyed the episode, and I think it’s the strongest episode in its placement (the second) we’ve had in all Nu-Who.
Okay the rest of this episode just breaks my brain so let's just say I'm waiting for the payoff and am expecting it to be very rewarding. IN LIKE OCTOBER SCREW YOU MOFFAT.
And let's move on to the eternal badass, River Song. I'm shipping her and the Doctor like nobody's business, I'll admit. I'm hoping that the whole 'There's a first time for everything' 'And a last' didn't actually mean THAT was their last kiss, just that River was being all sad because she can see the end coming.
The "still dreaming" lady in the vanishing slide-window made me think strongly of Pearl Forrester, when I saw her.
THEORIES
The Silence wanted a girl to put in a spacesuit so they can force her to watch cheesy movies, the worst they can find.
For science.
First of all, Alex Kingston is a real life River Song! Moffat has told her all the things<i/> about River Song but she won't tell the cast because of ~spoilers~.
On to the episode.
-WHO WAS THE LADY WITH THE METAL EYE IN THE DISAPPEARING DOOR!!! I know that compared to the other stuff it wasn't that big but seriously it is never addressed again.
-The hatch marks on everyone's skin is seriously terrifying and so creepy to me. It is only topped by the creepiness of that orphanage. That orphanage = creepiest thing I've seen on Who or ever! The messages on the wall are horrifying because he will never get out.<i/> And when Amy was getting covered in hatchmarks and she finally looked up at the ceiling to see them all sleeping like bats. Ahhhh! The one moment of joy was Canton shooting one of the Silents. Pure American gun toting joy!
– I seriously have no clue what is going on with Amy's baby and the little regenerating girl. I just feel jfhuierwahfhwehfaukdsjkafhuei on the subject.
-RORY AND AMY NEED TO BE TOGETHER FOREVER<b/> None of this love triangle nonsense. I would have punched Amy in the face if she hadn't been talking about Rory and his stupid face. Seriously, where is my Rory. He had so many great lines in this episode, when he is talking about Amy being able to hear him and remembering those 2,000 years.
-And I cannot forget about River! Total fangirling over here. The way she dives into that pool like a boss is magnificent and MOAR TARDIS POOL. And the way she takes out those Silents without a sweat. I just totally love her and everything about her. And finally that kiss is just awesome. I love that River just goes for it and the Doctor is just flailing around. The last two episodes made me ship River/Doctor so hard. Flirty River/Doctor = best<b/> River/Doctor.
-I thought it was clever how the Doctor took down the Silence, but I also think that it is really creepy how you might turn into a violent murderer and not remember at all.<i/>
Just one little last thought, we now know how Twilight became popular! Since we were killing them, the Silence decided to fuck with us all and ~suggested~ to millions of preteen girls that Twilight was the best thing ever. It all makes sense now!
Okay I lied, one more thing, I wonder what the Silence do in their free time. Do they go see movies or concerts, go to Gucci to get more suits, or do they just like messing with us humans. "LOL I'm going to make everyone like Jersey Shore and Twilight" "Aw man(or Silent?) you truly are<i/> evil."
Slash goes before the element name. Example: < /i> (minus the space).
Thank you.
Me too. But I don't really ship it in-show too much – I've accepted that it's not going to happen…and I don't think I want it to happen. I love Amy/Rory, as well.
It also puts paid to Joel vs Mike, because Mike IS Joel! The whole "I'm going back to earth in a pod, it's your show now" thing was a metaphorical regeneration due to a low effects budget.
And that time Joel came back to visit? Well. Time travel, duh.
YES. THIS IS NOW MY HEAD-CANON. <3
Man or Astro-Man OR IMPOSSIBLE ASTRONAUT.
Gallifreyans have two hearts. Time Lords are a subset of Gallifreyans. See tardis.wikia: http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Time_Lord http://tardis.wikia.com/wiki/Gallifreyan The new series has kind of conflated Gallifreyans and Time Lords, but they're not synonymous.
silence having a tardis reminds me of one muggle prime minister.
-but…you can use magic!
-unfortunately, so can the other side.
(or something like that)
so, if they really have a tardis, and as moffat loves timey-wimey plots, there will be double timey-wimey traveling.
maybe amy really was kidnapped for months.
Oh this is cool and it would make them a such more dangerous villain. Also strange cause Amy was kidnapped for months then baby is Silence baby? ick
I'm planning on watching these episodes back to back when I have the time to get the optimum experience and understanding. I like TIA better in retrospect now that I've seen its second half, but I still think these would probably be best processed together. I actually thought we would pick up exactly where we left off, and was thrown by the three month jump, as it seems like a lot of us were? From what I understand, from what Amy's line implied "Do you even remember why you're doing this?" it seems like the Silence knew the Doctor was on to them, and was using hypnotic suggestion to turn the government agents against Team TARDIS? I remember reading/hearing somewhere that media is getting a lot faster paced because we have so much media we've already built as a society we are able to make connections quickly, and without them having to be explained to us more clearly. It seems like the Moff is pushing the envelope in that respect here, because we aren't even given a handwave for a lot of this stuff- like why Amy and Rory were convincingly dead by bullet but actually alive- and we're left to fill in the blanks ourselves (no pun intended?). Which, as Who fans, we will of course do. I know some things are being left to be answered for later, but some corners were just cut and I'm not completely sure yet if that was a good decision or not.
Was I the only one who was pretty sure Amy was talking to Rory from the first "stupid face" drop? Her Raggedy Doctor is silly and strange and gross and weird, but her husband is the only one she ever affectionately calls stupid. The "dropped out of the sky" line seemed too purposefully muddying, but I think the only love triangle there is in Rory's insecure head. Love him, but I do hope he grows out of it- and I'm glad Moffat at least makes the choice to have an early confrontation about it, and I hope that leads to growth instead of just repetition.
I LOVED River in this one, even more than in the first part. I'm still a little wary of this traveling in opposite directions idea, and sad that the line about lasts gave it more weight. Maybe- excuse me whilst I fanwank this- she wasn't necessarily saying that this kiss was her last kiss, but up until now she's never met a Doctor who hasn't kissed her before, and she knows now that there are adventures in her near future where she won't be able to kiss him at all. This is the last time she can see the Doctor with the full confidence that her kisses would be welcomed (even if that confidence even this time was misplaced). It is a harbinger of her dark day to come, and I expect would bring to the forefront of her mind all sorts of firsts and lasts.
I'm among those who think the Doctor's intent is not to have the Silence massacred by the humans. The humans until now were at all sorts of disadvantages, and now they're on a little more level ground. The Silence can no longer put things into humanity's heads, because humanity won't give them enough time to sew a suggestion- humans will react aggressively. It's not a death sentence, it's a threat, and it's meant to cease further interference and scare them off the planet. There's nothing to suggest that they are stuck on earth. Now, I will agree that the Doctor's plan has the potential to engage mankind in a war they haven't consented to, and might end up doing more damage than good- but as so many people said to me in the comments when I would complain about Ten doing assholish or unethical things- just because there's no comeuppance now, doesn't mean there won't be later. Even after 80 some minutes, this story is far from over, and I'll reserve judgment until the end.
I figured that Amy would be talking about Rory during the 'I love you' speech, but I won't lie, my mouth was still agape.
'Her Raggedy Doctor is silly and strange and gross and weird, but her husband is the only one she ever affectionately calls stupid.'
To be fair to Rory, Amy had cried 'you stupid bloody idiot' over his body not that long ago.
Also, hi guys, have this 'shop:
<img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v51/SwimmingTrunks/207a6d17.jpg">
So so so utterly perfect!
my face looked like the face from "The Scream" painting when the girl started regenerating. Seriously. I screamed, literally. It was the craziest, most WHAM! bits of the whole two-parter, aside from the Doctor being completely dead. CAN'T WAIT to know the answer! *sits in chair, biting fingernails*
I've got a constantly-evolving theory of how Rory "fell out of the sky" for Amy. It involves little Amelia coping with being the new girl in town, being different and "strange", the first person she connected with in her new home disappearing without a trace, and everyone telling her that she made her best friend up. Enter little stupid-face Rory, who wants to talk with her and play with her, and even though he's weirded out by her talk about the Raggedy Doctor, he doesn't leave. Next day, she's expecting that Rory won't want to play with her anymore, and there he is, waiting for her, and little Amelia realizes all of a sudden that Rory will always be there for her.
Latest elaboration of the scenario is that Amelia started dressing up Rory as the Raggedy Doctor when he suddenly got called away, still wearing the torn clothes. When he comes back the next day, he's wearing the clothes again.
Or maybe he fell out of a tree. I've got that mental image. 😀
As do I. I was going to post something along the lines that maybe some mean boys tossed his hat into a tree, he went up to get it and fell right in front of Amelia, maybe aged 10-12.
If it looks like a dementor and is scary like a dementor and sucks the life out of you almost like a dementor, it's probably a space dementor, yes. (:
Besides, whose day wouldn't be improved by adding chocolate to it? 😉
I am still on such a high from this episode, similar to the one I had after Pandorica Opens/Big Bang. There is so much to love and think about and boggle the mind with in it. There's eating and drinking in these opening episodes! From start to finish, I loved it. Highlights are too hard to pick out. The cast are absolutely magnificent and are given hefty emotional scenes to work with and yet the hour flies by and it never feels like the episode is taking a specific break to fit these in. More than anything, it makes me excited about what is coming. And, to that end
Theories Abound! So, we didn't really get any explanation as to why Amy and Rory stopped travelling with the Doctor. They say it's been two months since they saw him, but has it been? I have a feeling that this gap has something massive to do with the Silence and Amy's possible pregnancy. Why did the Doctor leave them behind? If he wanted them to get on with normal lives, he wouldn't get back in touch with them, we've seen he likes to leave past as past. Also, why would they agree unless they wanted to take a break for some reason? We last saw the Tardis crew on earth on June 26, 2010. It's been ten months. No reference to it, bar the Christmas and Comic Relief episodes. Speaking of, what was Amy's unasked question to the Doctor in 'Space'? In short, I think Amy's pregnancy has already happened and they can't remember. Oh God, I'm getting flashbacks (ironic) to all my Lost theorising, I'd better stop.
btw, has anyone commented on the Doctor's new hairstyle and shirt? He's also not so pale. I think the hair will have to grow on me.
It's just a tad too neat and short isn't it… The new jacket and shirt have already grown on me but I might need a few more eps for me to accept his hair!
And here I was thinking you'd just be doing live-blogs. *knocks self on head*
HFSJAKFHSA. This episode. I love it like pie. But then again, I really love mind-twisters. xD
Thoughts on characters:
Rory: RORY RORY RORY. I love that Moffat dealt with Rory's other lives. And that even if he's able to keep those memories behind a door- someone had made an interesting note that Arthur seems to throw in an really subtle undercurrent that Rory probably has a few mental hinges missing after his 2000 years- in the scene where he's telling the Doctor that Amy can always hear him.
And speaking of, Amy:
I really want to talk about the scene where she was crying over the live-feed besides besides how utter heartbreaking it was. I'm not suprised she called out to the Doctor. And I've seen comments of people throwing a lot of dislike because she called for the Doctor in that scene, but I think I can understand her right then. It's how her tone of voice changes completely. It becomes tiny, like she's so scared that she's practically mentally regressed to being a small child again who wants the Doctor to come fix the crack in her wall. But that's just what I think personally.
River: *is fully aware that she's almost 25* I WANT TO BE YOU WHEN I GROW UP, RIVER. Awesome. Flawless. More flirting with the Doctor, please? And she is making me dread the moment when I get around to actually seeing FotD and SitL, even if I already know what's going to happen.
Regarding Amy: Yeah, not surprised either, especially because the transmitters were supposed to connect them to the Doctor. But the juxtaposition of that and Rory's face after his speech. Oooooh, Rory.
And my parents finally watched FotD and SitL last night. So now they're all caught up on River.
Theories abound, perhaps: I think there was more than just a ship in "The Lodger". At the time, the end of two of the conversations between Amy and the Doctor didn't make much sense. But now I think they do. (link to video clips of the moments in question)
Those clips are soooooo scary, yikes.
Not much time right now, so the only thing I really feel like I need to share is this: I watched the scene where River kisses the Doctor three times. Every time she said "And a last" the waterworks started again 🙁 🙁 🙁
NGL, the first thing I thought of was the Krillitane from "School Reunion." Seriously, no explanation whatsoever (aside from Rule of Scary) for why the Silence would roost upside down.
Maybe I just missed it in all these comments, but seriously, has no one mentioned the fact that Nixon had to have been in the TARDIS? It kind of annoyed me that the show itself didn't seem to want to acknowledge it, because it had potential to be a very funny moment.
Random bit of trivia: the Zero-Balanced Dwarf Star Alloy™ prison was made of (duh)Dwarf Star Alloy, which apparently made its first appearance in the Classic series, and was more recently used in the chains with which Ten bound Father of Mine in "The Family of Blood."
Speaking of the DSA prison, it still doesn't make sense to me that the TARDIS team would go through this entire charade just to keep the Silence in the dark about their plans. For one thing, the Silence don't really seem all that interested in stopping whatever it is that the team are doing. They seem altogether too arrogant to allow that someone might have found a way to overcome their amnesic abilities, and they really don't seem to be interested in doing more than intimidating the people they come into contact with. In the last episode, one of the Silence blew up a woman named Joy for no discernible reason. Here, though, one gets pwned directly in the chest by Canton's bullet (and another of them seemingly came and told Mr. Renfrew about it), but for the most part all we really see the Silence doing is looking creepy and gloating. Which is probably why I thought that the Silence felt distinctly less scary this time around.
There's also the fact that the Dwarf Star Alloy™ prison wouldn't necessarily prevent the Silence from hearing what the team are saying inside of it. The prison might be impenetrable from the outside, but last time I checked there was also a big honking (or screeching, as the case may be) TARDIS residing in there, which has been shown (IIRC) to have the Silence present inside of it at other times. It doesn't seem like the TARDIS has some sort of alien version of the Homenum Revelio charm (correct me if I'm wrong), and it seems like there'd be no way for the team to check for the presence of the Silence with 100% accuracy, given how big and complicated that TARDIS is.
There's also the theory (mentioned by someone else here at one point, I think?) that the Doctor's ability to open the TARDIS doors with a snap is actually all down to the Silence, which the Doctor totally does inside of the prison in this episode.
And ETA, because I forgot for a moment: WHAT WAS CHARLOTTE "CHUCK" CHARLES'S AUNT LILY DOING IN AN ORPHANAGE IN FLORIDA IN 1969???
A dancing Silent thanks you for your time.
<img src="http://i1133.photobucket.com/albums/m593/the_mauve_avenger/SilentDancing.gif">
I love his little head-twitch at the end. It seems so self-assured.
"WHAT WAS CHARLOTTE "CHUCK" CHARLES'S AUNT LILY DOING IN AN ORPHANAGE IN FLORIDA IN 1969??? "
THANK YOU!
I knew it was reminding me of someone XD
Theories and thoughts
I've been thinking about the way that the first two episodes deal with Nixon, and he seems like a reasonable, nice, guy. I think that his interactions with The Silence and the Doctor will make him very paranoid and lead to his downfall, or The Silence are responsible for Watergate.
I'm not entirely convinced that The Silence are bad, in season 5 when people would say, "The Pandorica will open and silence will fall." I always assumed that the silence falling was presented as a bad thing.
I'm pretty sure it means "fall" as in "night falls" ie descends upon us. So it is negative, it's just making use of a common expression (you can't say "silence rises", that doesn't make sense). Of course, I could be totally wrong, that's just the meaning I took out of it. That and the Silence creeped me out so I don't want to think of them as good 🙂
I'm review parts 1 + 2 together because I can't really think of them separately at this point and I never really talked about 1. 🙂
Okay, so let's see. First Moffat, stop mindscrewing us.
I'm not exactly [i]disappointed[/i] with the two opening episodes. They're pretty damn awesome. But am I convinced they were right for an opener? Er…
What I miss a little about RTD is the subtlety of the season arc throughout the first few episodes. You could guess that something was going to be happening in the big picture without being hit over the head with a sack of bricks about it, which I sometimes feel like Moffat does. Not that he doesn't surprise! It's just more fun to pick up on the little things. OR MAYBE I'M JUST MISSING THE LITTLE THINGS. But whatev, that's my main complaint about these episodes. They have WAY too many teasing moments about what is going to happen for the rest of the season/s. I felt that there wasn't enough resolution of plot points to satisfy me and maybe that's me being greedy. I mean, even with the silence gets wiped out on Earth we KNOW they're other places and he's yet to explain why/how they're wanted to mess with the TARDIS other than to be big fat head jerks.
Further… the pregnancy. I got a little spoiled that Amy was going to drop that bombshell in the first episode so the 'putting on a few pounds' line wasn't lost on me. I really thought they weren't going to do it when she revealed she was wrong at the beginning and it would just be of recognizing the Silent. Unfortunately between Twilight and Glee I have had enough shitty pregnancy plots. They're gonna have to work hard for me to enjoy it.
Random theory of right this second: River also felt sick… so maybe the baby is fluxing between her and Amy and its River's and the Doctor's kid which KIND of makes more sense. :-/ (Pleasenothanks,k?)
Okay, as for what I DID like.
There was actually a lot! I do kind of like that they're using time-travel as a plot device within episodes rather than just the establisher. Yes, sometimes it's confusing but I like it. I really enjoy River's screwed up timeline, it's fun guessing! Like now I'm guessing this is the third-to-last time she saw the doctor (or thereabouts) with only the library and that time he took her to the singing towers and he cried left…
QUOTE (from forest of the dead).[i] 'The last time I saw you… the real you, the future you, I mean, you turned up on my doorstep with a new haircut and a suit. You took me to Derilium, to see the singing towers. Ah, what a night that was. The towers sang… and you cried.'[/i]
So it can't have been the LAST time they saw each other, but last kiss? Hard to say. Could make you wonder about 'new haircut'. Is that a new doctor? She said his faces changed and has some knowledge of the regeneration cycle so she MUST have seen it before. Basically, 11 CAN NOT BE THE LAST DOCTOR.
(on a side note I just re-watched that part of the episode with ten looking all WTH and I realised… he's not the doctor to me anymore! Or not as much, anyway.)
Ahem, moving on…
(CONTINUED)
Although I thought there were a few too many I do like the season arc hints as much as I dislike the suspense they cause.
I'm not really a desert girl AT ALL ( give me a misty forest sans vampires any day) but the lake scenes were beautiful!
River and Rory are officially my favourites at the moment <3 The Doctor being 'okay' with River using guns irked me. Not that she did it, we've already seen that she'll be merciless BAMF in Big Bang. And once again he's committing/manipulating genocide… great. And Amy I'm sort of annoyed at and probably will be till the pregnancy is well justified.
Canton was pretty awesome too! I'm a little confused about why the doctor was tied up? Was it so they could build the prison just so they would have a place to plan? I think I missed something.
Acting was pretty good all round actually.
I just thought of something from the impossible astronaut: why did the future!Doctor (if he's the one who sent the envelopes) not go and pick Amy, Rory, river and future!Canton up? Why did they have to travel there themselves. More to the point… WHERE THE HELL IS FUTURE!TARDIS!? 🙁
Anyway in conclusion, I enjoyed the openers, but there was a distinct lack of answers on stuff I actually wanted to know. And I'm weird because I don't really buy into the Nightmare Fuel, so I've never found the Angels or even the Silent THAT scary so usually the pay off for me isn't feeling terrified but getting those answers. So yes, keen for next week!
Unfortunately between Twilight and Glee I have had enough shitty pregnancy plots. They're gonna have to work hard for me to enjoy it.
Yep. It's not fair to Doctor Who, but the pregnancy trope has worn thin.
MARK!!
Could you please bring back .gifs to your reviews. I MISS THEM VERY MUCH
I hate Mondays but they are now filled with rainbows and unicorns cause I know there's a review coming (:
THEORIES ABOUND SO DON'T READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW
Could it be that Amy looks pregnant and then not because the Tardis keeps looking at the silence within and forgetting?
OMG THAT MIGHT BE THE CREEPIEST THING I HAVE EVER READ.
WHY DID YOU DO THAT.
But yes, wow, that would be amazing/horrible/confusing.
IWhat had happened, I thought, that made them all turn on this group? Was it because Amy shot that little girl?
I think that the Silents made the authorities all over the country pursue Rory, Amy, and River.
Amy looks up in horror to the ceiling to find it COVERED WITH THE SILENCE, ALL OF THEM SLEEPING.
I was WTFing all over the place. So freaking terrifying. I had a horrifying experience with a bat once (one got in my house one night when I was home all alone) so DNW bat-like creatures EVER.
My brain is fried from trying to make sense of it all.
So my only contribution to this post is: MOAR RORY PLEASE.
I want Rory the Roman backstory SO SO MUCH. I would do questionable things to make this happen.
This was the first episode of Doctor Who that legitimately scared the shit out of me. I had issues going into dark rooms after watching this.
Also, nerdy Rory is hot.
Wild and utterly impossible speculation that has to be speculated: The Silence are minions of MASTER PHARAOH 90 and the Doctor will have to go to Tokyo and meet the Sailor Senshi and PLUTO IS TOTALLY SUSAN. 🙂
I thought we'd already driven the DWs6/Sailor Moon S jokes into the ground over at RPGnet? 🙂
I thought the same thing! He's number two on my list of people I wish would become companions but never will. The first being Amelia Earhart.
So, I don't watch Doctor Who, so I don't really get the punch line, but one of my facebook friends posted this after the last episode and I thought you'd get a kick out of it. (unless this has already been posted as a reply to someone's comment, in which case, you'll just get to enjoy it a second time.)
<img src='http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/8779/23012410100136874958510.jpg' border='0'/>
OMG poor Neville. All that time he was being used by the Silence and we didn't know!
… And I just realized that the whispers they heard around the veil in the Department of Mysteries means the Silence was there.
…there was a Silent in 2011. When the Doctor died. How did it survive? And why didn't Amy try to kill it on sight?
Maybe they're in the process of rewriting history – maybe they did something differently that invalidated the previous storyline with the 2011 Silent and Dead Doctor. It could be that's why Amy's pregnancy is in flux – they're straddling two diverging timelines or something? IDK.
Adventures don't count until you've had them in your own personal timeline. Or the Doctor would never be able to change anything.
I am late commenting, as always, so there probably isn't anyone left hanging around to read this, but
THEORIES THEORIES THEORIES
Probably not at all true, but pretty cool all the same. I think.
So, maybe Amy really was pregnant. 'Was' being the key word. Maybe she was stuck in that creepyabandonedorphanage for much longer than she thought, like the caretaker? Maybe she was stuck there for 8-9 months? She was pregnant and has already had the baby, but can't remember any of it because the Silents kept wiping her memory of it. You remember Eyepatch Lady and window-door? Amy wasn't dreaming, but afterwards, she didn't remember anything for a couple of months, in which time the door was replaced and Eyepatch Lady left.
And now I'm going to stop talking, because I am seriously creeping myself out here.
By the way, you know all the old stories of poltergeist activity? Bumps in the night, writing on walls, etc? Silents.