Doctor Who 5x09 - Cold Blood
May. 30th, 2010 10:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lightcastleThat was probably the most jarring overlap of "episode plot" and "season arc" we've seen yet, and that's also my only major complaint from what was otherwise quite a good episode.
All Silurian episodes end the same, which is why the hopeful coda of a possible future where it works out was really very nice for an old school fan. I fully expected it to end with just about everyone dead.
Science vs Military conflict? Check. Someone failing to give peace a chance and tragically dooming a reconciliation? Check. The Doctor disappointed with the humans under his care? Check. But the whole idea of spreading the word so that in a thousand years people will be ready? That was new, and very nice. Even with some ambiguity in Eldane's narration, that was surprisingly hopeful.
Of course, they made up for that hopeful change by killing Rory, and then wiping him from the timeline by way of the Cracks. I get they are upping the ante for the finale, and I get that this is Amy Pond's story, but I am sad to see Rory go. Of course, I can't help to find a certain pleasure in seeing a man used as the "tragic death drives the story" figure that is so commonly the woman's role.
Amy was surprisingly bland and absent here, much as she was in the last episode. I wonder if that was to make more place for Rory, as if he was getting more screen time as an equal companion just to snatch him away. I liked most of the performances, although no one blew me away. I still don't like the new makeup for the Silurians, and wish they had used the masks/helmets as the actual look. Still, at least the Doctor mentioned that he had encountered slightly different tribes/species before, so they didn't pretend the look hadn't changed rather drastically.
As for grand plot arcs - the big reveal that wasn't much of a shock at all was that the big explosion was of the TARDIS itself. Given that it was happening at Amy's wedding and following the TARDIS around, this was a nice moment, but not too shocking. The Rory death is a little more interesting and vague. Amy seems to have forgotten him, but has the Doctor? It's unclear. The presence of the wedding ring in the TARDIS implies a certain amount of protection for those in the machine. I suspect he knows, but thinks telling her doesn't help anything.
This does create one interesting issue, however. The Pandorica opens on Amy's wedding day. But there is no longer a wedding. So why that day now?
I am troubled a bit by this whole story arc, and I haven't mentioned it yet because I wanted to see which way they were going with it. Rory's death and the destruction of the TARDIS makes it very likely, though, and it will make me unhappy.
Just about the only rule Doctor Who has ever taken seriously concerning time travel has been the following - you can't just go back to the beginning of the story and make it never have happened in the first place. In the first attempted revival of the show, in 1998, that was exactly what they did in the TV movie/stealth pilot. Fans revolted. (For other reasons as well, of course.) This whole Cracks storyline looks a lot like it is careening towards exactly that as a resolution, which would really upset me. I'm not convinced that is where it is going yet, but it does look uncomfortably like that may be the case.
We shall see. Next week - Van Gogh. The "historical figure" stories have been pretty uneven so far, so I won't get my hopes up, but a creepy face in one of his paintings sounds like it could be fun.
All Silurian episodes end the same, which is why the hopeful coda of a possible future where it works out was really very nice for an old school fan. I fully expected it to end with just about everyone dead.
Science vs Military conflict? Check. Someone failing to give peace a chance and tragically dooming a reconciliation? Check. The Doctor disappointed with the humans under his care? Check. But the whole idea of spreading the word so that in a thousand years people will be ready? That was new, and very nice. Even with some ambiguity in Eldane's narration, that was surprisingly hopeful.
Of course, they made up for that hopeful change by killing Rory, and then wiping him from the timeline by way of the Cracks. I get they are upping the ante for the finale, and I get that this is Amy Pond's story, but I am sad to see Rory go. Of course, I can't help to find a certain pleasure in seeing a man used as the "tragic death drives the story" figure that is so commonly the woman's role.
Amy was surprisingly bland and absent here, much as she was in the last episode. I wonder if that was to make more place for Rory, as if he was getting more screen time as an equal companion just to snatch him away. I liked most of the performances, although no one blew me away. I still don't like the new makeup for the Silurians, and wish they had used the masks/helmets as the actual look. Still, at least the Doctor mentioned that he had encountered slightly different tribes/species before, so they didn't pretend the look hadn't changed rather drastically.
As for grand plot arcs - the big reveal that wasn't much of a shock at all was that the big explosion was of the TARDIS itself. Given that it was happening at Amy's wedding and following the TARDIS around, this was a nice moment, but not too shocking. The Rory death is a little more interesting and vague. Amy seems to have forgotten him, but has the Doctor? It's unclear. The presence of the wedding ring in the TARDIS implies a certain amount of protection for those in the machine. I suspect he knows, but thinks telling her doesn't help anything.
This does create one interesting issue, however. The Pandorica opens on Amy's wedding day. But there is no longer a wedding. So why that day now?
I am troubled a bit by this whole story arc, and I haven't mentioned it yet because I wanted to see which way they were going with it. Rory's death and the destruction of the TARDIS makes it very likely, though, and it will make me unhappy.
Just about the only rule Doctor Who has ever taken seriously concerning time travel has been the following - you can't just go back to the beginning of the story and make it never have happened in the first place. In the first attempted revival of the show, in 1998, that was exactly what they did in the TV movie/stealth pilot. Fans revolted. (For other reasons as well, of course.) This whole Cracks storyline looks a lot like it is careening towards exactly that as a resolution, which would really upset me. I'm not convinced that is where it is going yet, but it does look uncomfortably like that may be the case.
We shall see. Next week - Van Gogh. The "historical figure" stories have been pretty uneven so far, so I won't get my hopes up, but a creepy face in one of his paintings sounds like it could be fun.
