DW - The Girl Who Waited
Oct. 7th, 2011 12:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rabid1stWell, despite trying to keep my anticipation in check for this episode, I still had high hopes for it, given all the advanced praise. I didn't have any specifics about it, though, so it still came as a bit of a surprise. I doubt it will surprise too many of my readers when I say I genuinely loved this one. This is the only episode of the Moff era that I can say that about so far. I enjoyed The Eleventh Hour, but I didn't love it, largely because of Amy. At that time, I had hopes for Matt Smith and no hope at all for Karen. But, what a difference a little time makes.
I think getting Matt Smith out of the way for most of this episode was the smartest thing the writer did. Most of Matt's scenes rang false or were carried by other actors. I did love his scene with Rory, the 'I don't want to travel with you' scene. But the weight of that scene is carried by Rory and, frankly, by the bruised and battered audience, rather than by Matt. I didn't mind his scene with Amy where he knows what he's done. I thought that was good enough. But his best moment was just before he shut the door on older Amy. I knew all along that would happen, but I still called him a bastard. So I was feeling something there. And that is what makes this episode work...genuine feeling. We can believe that older Amy still loves Rory, still believes in him. And that he can't bear to betray her. It is true and understandable human emotion and both actors rise to the occasion. I really loved Karen in this. It totally confirmed for me that she was acting in all of S5 and only needed more substance to her character. I still don't like Amy as a character, because I honestly think there isn't much to her. If only they had let her bond properly with baby River, I might have appreciated her more. But she still seems like a Muppet, being manipulated through action sequences with a jolly smile and song. Events never seem to register on Amy the way they do on Rory...or did on Rose, Martha, Donna, Nine and Ten. Amy is a lot like Jack and River, both created by Moff, of course, who don't seem to register what happens to them as humans might.
But I did love the scene of the two Amy's sharing a looking glass. Older Amy I recognized as completely human. She was dead spot on with her emotional resonance. I believed that she was jealous of her younger self and also feeling for her. I believed she didn't want to die, now that her knight had finally arrived. That she loved Rory intensely and yet couldn't bare that she'd missed so much. That she'd come to hate and better understand the Doctor. And I also got a bit of the echo of Ten 2 in her as a duplicate needs a life as well, and considers themselves the real person. Though, as usual when I see these attempts to create an excuse for Journey's End, I generally see the flaw in the argument.
This was truly Amy only older. And they would be making her an Amy from another Time Stream by their actions. And how many time streams has she had? There would be a paradox created if she stayed in the TARDIS....so Rory had to chose. Totally not Ten 2 who as I often point out isn't The Doctor at all, but a hybrid of him and Donna. And then there is the idea that echoes JE when older Amy says they should give young Amy those happy years with her beloved. I think that is the actual excuse that RTD used in his head for JE. I think he felt as if he was giving Rose some happy years and only later felt bad about it not being her beloved at all. I can see that the Doctor hoped to wall off Rose for all time behind a lock he couldn't open. Or, at least, that's what I hoped I was seeing there from Matt as he did react to that comment. But I was left with the idea that the Doctor simply wasn't as good as the people who travel with him. If, for example, Rory had decided to take a duplicate of Amy instead of the older one, simply because the older one would be dying before him, that might be comparable to what Rose was stuck with in JE. Given THAT choice, I think that Rory would have taken the REAL Amy, because I believe he found it hard to let her go anyway.
I did see the visual echo of Doomsday with the hands on the TARDIS window comparative to the Doctor and Rose separated, but, of course, we are denied any shred of true sympathy from this Doctor. He's all about leaving the choice to Rory. But would he honestly have let Rory open that door? I don't think he would. The problem with the New Who Doctor is that we see him make the hard choices, but with Matt, we don't get any of the emotional connection to those choices that we should have. He doesn't let us see that it pains him. I suppose that's what the long look was all about between him and her, but what I got from it was a cold feeling of "you bastard" in my stomach. I'm not sure that's the sort of feeling the Doctor should be inspiring in people.
Anyway, on to the whole concept of the story, which was very clever. It started out so benign and then went to a very real and dark place. And I so want to believe that older Amy lived, because she grew accustomed to the drugs or bacteria or something. Though perhaps it is best not to live if you have no hope of rescue. Could she move on anymore than Rose? Or poor Donna trapped in her own mind. The Doctor used to make people better...now look at him. I like the kindness of letting the entire dying population live out a lifetime in a day. Knowing that you were dying, you could visit other worlds and have grand adventures. It was like a metaphor for humanity and the Doctor. Someone should write a paper about it. As well as a paper about how New Who rejects aging as a natural part of life. And the PTB should send this episode around for award nominations next year, because it was that good.
I think getting Matt Smith out of the way for most of this episode was the smartest thing the writer did. Most of Matt's scenes rang false or were carried by other actors. I did love his scene with Rory, the 'I don't want to travel with you' scene. But the weight of that scene is carried by Rory and, frankly, by the bruised and battered audience, rather than by Matt. I didn't mind his scene with Amy where he knows what he's done. I thought that was good enough. But his best moment was just before he shut the door on older Amy. I knew all along that would happen, but I still called him a bastard. So I was feeling something there. And that is what makes this episode work...genuine feeling. We can believe that older Amy still loves Rory, still believes in him. And that he can't bear to betray her. It is true and understandable human emotion and both actors rise to the occasion. I really loved Karen in this. It totally confirmed for me that she was acting in all of S5 and only needed more substance to her character. I still don't like Amy as a character, because I honestly think there isn't much to her. If only they had let her bond properly with baby River, I might have appreciated her more. But she still seems like a Muppet, being manipulated through action sequences with a jolly smile and song. Events never seem to register on Amy the way they do on Rory...or did on Rose, Martha, Donna, Nine and Ten. Amy is a lot like Jack and River, both created by Moff, of course, who don't seem to register what happens to them as humans might.
But I did love the scene of the two Amy's sharing a looking glass. Older Amy I recognized as completely human. She was dead spot on with her emotional resonance. I believed that she was jealous of her younger self and also feeling for her. I believed she didn't want to die, now that her knight had finally arrived. That she loved Rory intensely and yet couldn't bare that she'd missed so much. That she'd come to hate and better understand the Doctor. And I also got a bit of the echo of Ten 2 in her as a duplicate needs a life as well, and considers themselves the real person. Though, as usual when I see these attempts to create an excuse for Journey's End, I generally see the flaw in the argument.
This was truly Amy only older. And they would be making her an Amy from another Time Stream by their actions. And how many time streams has she had? There would be a paradox created if she stayed in the TARDIS....so Rory had to chose. Totally not Ten 2 who as I often point out isn't The Doctor at all, but a hybrid of him and Donna. And then there is the idea that echoes JE when older Amy says they should give young Amy those happy years with her beloved. I think that is the actual excuse that RTD used in his head for JE. I think he felt as if he was giving Rose some happy years and only later felt bad about it not being her beloved at all. I can see that the Doctor hoped to wall off Rose for all time behind a lock he couldn't open. Or, at least, that's what I hoped I was seeing there from Matt as he did react to that comment. But I was left with the idea that the Doctor simply wasn't as good as the people who travel with him. If, for example, Rory had decided to take a duplicate of Amy instead of the older one, simply because the older one would be dying before him, that might be comparable to what Rose was stuck with in JE. Given THAT choice, I think that Rory would have taken the REAL Amy, because I believe he found it hard to let her go anyway.
I did see the visual echo of Doomsday with the hands on the TARDIS window comparative to the Doctor and Rose separated, but, of course, we are denied any shred of true sympathy from this Doctor. He's all about leaving the choice to Rory. But would he honestly have let Rory open that door? I don't think he would. The problem with the New Who Doctor is that we see him make the hard choices, but with Matt, we don't get any of the emotional connection to those choices that we should have. He doesn't let us see that it pains him. I suppose that's what the long look was all about between him and her, but what I got from it was a cold feeling of "you bastard" in my stomach. I'm not sure that's the sort of feeling the Doctor should be inspiring in people.
Anyway, on to the whole concept of the story, which was very clever. It started out so benign and then went to a very real and dark place. And I so want to believe that older Amy lived, because she grew accustomed to the drugs or bacteria or something. Though perhaps it is best not to live if you have no hope of rescue. Could she move on anymore than Rose? Or poor Donna trapped in her own mind. The Doctor used to make people better...now look at him. I like the kindness of letting the entire dying population live out a lifetime in a day. Knowing that you were dying, you could visit other worlds and have grand adventures. It was like a metaphor for humanity and the Doctor. Someone should write a paper about it. As well as a paper about how New Who rejects aging as a natural part of life. And the PTB should send this episode around for award nominations next year, because it was that good.
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(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-07 06:16 pm (UTC)The Doctor is at his most unloveable here. Matt plays him with a calculating streak and lying seems to be his default setting. It is a story that feeds into the overall arc, as you'll shortly see. I think SM is beginning to realise how limited his grasp of emotion is, and he's bringing in other writers to plug the gap - the problem is they are saddled with a narrative arc that they can't really respond to in a believable way.
I was saying in comments on another post today (I won't link you because it will spoil you for the last ep) that Moffatt tends to use characters to perform symbolic, even mythical functions. I think it's easier to like his stuff if you regard it as a sustained meditation on the Doctor rather than a drama in its own right. GITF is an excellent example of that - it is a thematic treatment of the whole transient companion mythos, very successful on that score, but manages to completely undermine what is going on in S2 at the micro-level between the Doctor and Rose.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-07 07:10 pm (UTC)Yes, I can definitely see Moff working at this level. I am stirred at times by the mythic proportions of his Doctor, but that is only because I'm doing the heavy lifting of emotion on my own. In other words, I remember the Doctor as a mythic character and so when people go on about how great he is or when Matt scowls a little or is presented with a huge challenge, I can draw on my history with the Doctor and gain some emotional pay-off. That is actually how myths work, too. The gods themselves are not compelling, it is the emotional or real life symbolism that connects with the audience. Matt is a good symbol of what the Doctor represents to us, but he is not the Doctor anymore than Cupid is Love.
I can readily believe that the calculation Matt displays in this episode will play into the overall arc. As I've mentioned a few times, Moff is playing directly into my hands with Wild Geese 2 with the way he's handling the Eleven run. All his alternative time lines and wibbly-wobbly end of the universe scenarios work so well for me. And I haven't a doubt that Matt is on the wrong track now that River has told me he is. Again, I was told not shown, of course. Not that it doesn't show that the Doctor is not helping people in this episode. To give Matt the benefit of the doubt here, perhaps he is in some type of emotional straight-jacket just like S5 Karen was, but all of that still doesn't satisfy me.
As a long time Doctor Who fan, I'm not sure that I care for this direction to the show and I'm not sure that a regeneration is a get out of your past mistakes cure all for this much meddling with the character. People forget that for most of the run of Old School we never seriously tampered with the Doctor's core personality. He was our hero. And all RTD did with Rose, initially, was expand on that heroism to make it romantic. It was only at JE that we begin to see the Doctor as a dark, meddlesome figure. Which, if you mean to take it to the Valeyard and then end it somehow...sure...I can see taking this sort of chance with the character. But there is a real risk that you will lose what endeared the character to so many generations. To me, Moff leans too much on the past on that mythic ideal of the Doctor. It is his crutch.
Rae
thinking of reading your Rory POV story, because Rory definitely delivered on this one.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-08 02:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-09 02:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-09 02:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-09 02:59 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-08 01:53 am (UTC)I think you'll find what happened here plays well into what comes next.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-09 02:56 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-17 05:44 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-09 06:34 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-10-17 05:45 am (UTC)