This was a good episode! Hooray!
Emma is trying to deal with her OCD. Character development! I love character development. Plus she and Will seem to be legitimately just friends for now and I like how he actually is supporting her and hopefully they're not going to screw things up again.
I'm very intrigued by the Karofsky/Santana storyline. I share Kurt's question, though: what is Karofsky's game? Is he legitimately reforming, or is he just terrified of Santana? Either way, I think this is going to lead somewhere interesting. Plus I'm so glad Kurt is back at McKinley!
The Quinn storyline here struck me a little false. I don't know, I guess I preferred it when Quinn was just a spoiled bitch who'd always been pretty. I guess it does explain some of her softer moments, though.
I really did like the contrast between Quinn/Finn and Lauren/Puck here. The boys both didn't want Rachel to get the nose job because they thought she was prettier as she was. Quinn got jealous and mad at Finn. Lauren, as far as we know, didn't even bother having a reaction because it didn't matter to her. Quinn was running a campaign for her to be prom queen and Finn to be prom king, and he really doesn't seem to care the tiniest bit about whether they win or not. On the other hand, Puck starts up a campaign for Lauren to be prom queen (no mention of himself being king) because he wants to make her happy. I kind of like that Puck comes off as being the nicer guy than Finn for once. Also: I loved the Quinn/Lauren moment toward the end, with Quinn's "I respect you" speech. That was heartwarming.
Also notable: suspicious lack of Sue this week. Kind of a nice change to have New Directions try to overcome something other than "Sue's nefarious plot" or "the other teams at the competition" for once.
One thing I would like to nitpick about is the choice of things the kids put on their shirts. I just feel like so many of them were focused on physical features they didn't like, rather than on actual things they didn't like about their actual selves. Those sorts of things don't leave a whole lot of room for self-improvement. I also was confused about Kurt's, since I never really got the impression that he was ashamed of liking boys or wished he didn't like boys or whatever, but there you have it.
That said, I feel like things might finally be looking back up for Glee. I don't want to get my hopes up too much, but I'm feeling more eager than usual for the next few episodes.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Doctor Who 6x1 "The Impossible Astronaut"
So going into the episode I, like everyone else in the world, knew that one of the four was supposed to die. My hope was River Song. I just don't have an emotional connection to her like I do with the others. My prediction was Amy. We know River dies in the Library (yes, "time can be rewritten," but doing so would negate basically everything meaningful about those episodes), Rory died twice last season so that's getting a little old, and they couldn't possibly kill off the Doctor.
So yeah, I was wrong. When he started regenerating I had a freak out moment of "HOW ON EARTH DID THEY KEEP THIS SECRET?!" and then there was the third shot and I didn't even know how to deal with that. Obviously it has to get undone because they can't just end the show, but still. There's always that nagging little possibility that maybe I'm wrong on this one and maybe this is going to be the end.
So, stating the obvious: Utah is very pretty.
The Silence are really fucking creepy. Like, actually the creepiest aliens that have been on the show. So, so, so super creepy.
How are there tunnels under the entire Earth that no one knew about? How is that even possible? Why is the TARDIS-thing from "The Lodger" (or one similar to it) underground in some random place in Florida? QUESTIONS, I HAS THEM.
Steven Moffat really likes to write stories that involve: disembodied voices, things in space suits, small children, time paradoxes, the creepiest aliens, aliens with associated catchphrases (are you my mommy?, don't blink, count the shadows, look behind you), and really mean cliffhangers.
Why is Amy pregnant? Erm, by which I mean, why does she ALL OF A SUDDEN really need to tell the Doctor that she's pregnant RIGHT AWAY? That seems fishy. And I just have a hard time believing she would let herself get pregnant. Given that she seems pretty sure that the Doctor is going to come back for them, I feel like she's still ready for adventure and not ready to settle into the comfortable family life that Rory wants for them, and which I suspect she wants too but just not yet. Also, if she is pregnant, I don't think Rory knows, because I don't think he would have let her run off with the Doctor this time if she was, or at the very least he would be constantly checking to make sure she was okay. But apparently it's been said that her pregnancy is an important part of the story line, so I guess there's something more to it than "the Silence made her think she was pregnant."
I'm interested in how things that happen in this episode were foreshadowed last season - and I wonder whether that foreshadowing was intentional. I mean, obviously there was the Silence, and the TARDIS-thing. Then there was Amy's pregnancy in "Amy's Choice." I also can't help but wonder about The Sarah Jane Adventures episodes "Death of the Doctor" are somehow related (not as in 'explain the story' but as in 'foreshadowing' like with the pregnancy thing), but I haven't seen them, so I don't really know.
I'm also interested whether/to what extent the episodes of this season/the events of this episode will be related to the exploding TARDIS? They've got to explain that at some point. Knowing this show/Moffat, everything will probably be one big intricately-woven interconnected puzzle-event-thingy.
Everyone and their dog is speculating about how River is the space-suited figure who kills the Doctor/River is Amy's child/the child in the space suit is Amy's child/the events here are an essential part of the mystery of River Song, but I can't help but wonder if they're unrelated... or as unrelated as anything can get in this show.
Another thing: someone writing somewhere else, I've lost the link unfortunately, mentioned that they were rewatching last season after this episode to look for clues, and they came across a few instances in "The Lodger" where Amy might have seen the Silence (around 14:00 and 22:00). I checked them out and I am inclined to agree. It seems a little unlikely that they managed to hide out on the TARDIS, but I guess since we haven't seen much of it, I always forget that it's actually way huger than we ever see. On the other hand, "The Lodger" is the episode that is most obviously related to this one, and it was the one that made the least sense to me, so throwing in some Silence doesn't seem too far out of the realm of possibility.
ALSO. I'm really suspicious of older-Doctor-who-dies. Where is... everything? Why is he driving a car? The TARDIS is nowhere to be seen, nor is his sonic screwdriver. That, combined with his adventures through history, lead me to suspect he's been taking the slow path for some reason. What is that reason?
So yeah, I was wrong. When he started regenerating I had a freak out moment of "HOW ON EARTH DID THEY KEEP THIS SECRET?!" and then there was the third shot and I didn't even know how to deal with that. Obviously it has to get undone because they can't just end the show, but still. There's always that nagging little possibility that maybe I'm wrong on this one and maybe this is going to be the end.
So, stating the obvious: Utah is very pretty.
The Silence are really fucking creepy. Like, actually the creepiest aliens that have been on the show. So, so, so super creepy.
How are there tunnels under the entire Earth that no one knew about? How is that even possible? Why is the TARDIS-thing from "The Lodger" (or one similar to it) underground in some random place in Florida? QUESTIONS, I HAS THEM.
Steven Moffat really likes to write stories that involve: disembodied voices, things in space suits, small children, time paradoxes, the creepiest aliens, aliens with associated catchphrases (are you my mommy?, don't blink, count the shadows, look behind you), and really mean cliffhangers.
Why is Amy pregnant? Erm, by which I mean, why does she ALL OF A SUDDEN really need to tell the Doctor that she's pregnant RIGHT AWAY? That seems fishy. And I just have a hard time believing she would let herself get pregnant. Given that she seems pretty sure that the Doctor is going to come back for them, I feel like she's still ready for adventure and not ready to settle into the comfortable family life that Rory wants for them, and which I suspect she wants too but just not yet. Also, if she is pregnant, I don't think Rory knows, because I don't think he would have let her run off with the Doctor this time if she was, or at the very least he would be constantly checking to make sure she was okay. But apparently it's been said that her pregnancy is an important part of the story line, so I guess there's something more to it than "the Silence made her think she was pregnant."
I'm interested in how things that happen in this episode were foreshadowed last season - and I wonder whether that foreshadowing was intentional. I mean, obviously there was the Silence, and the TARDIS-thing. Then there was Amy's pregnancy in "Amy's Choice." I also can't help but wonder about The Sarah Jane Adventures episodes "Death of the Doctor" are somehow related (not as in 'explain the story' but as in 'foreshadowing' like with the pregnancy thing), but I haven't seen them, so I don't really know.
I'm also interested whether/to what extent the episodes of this season/the events of this episode will be related to the exploding TARDIS? They've got to explain that at some point. Knowing this show/Moffat, everything will probably be one big intricately-woven interconnected puzzle-event-thingy.
Everyone and their dog is speculating about how River is the space-suited figure who kills the Doctor/River is Amy's child/the child in the space suit is Amy's child/the events here are an essential part of the mystery of River Song, but I can't help but wonder if they're unrelated... or as unrelated as anything can get in this show.
Another thing: someone writing somewhere else, I've lost the link unfortunately, mentioned that they were rewatching last season after this episode to look for clues, and they came across a few instances in "The Lodger" where Amy might have seen the Silence (around 14:00 and 22:00). I checked them out and I am inclined to agree. It seems a little unlikely that they managed to hide out on the TARDIS, but I guess since we haven't seen much of it, I always forget that it's actually way huger than we ever see. On the other hand, "The Lodger" is the episode that is most obviously related to this one, and it was the one that made the least sense to me, so throwing in some Silence doesn't seem too far out of the realm of possibility.
ALSO. I'm really suspicious of older-Doctor-who-dies. Where is... everything? Why is he driving a car? The TARDIS is nowhere to be seen, nor is his sonic screwdriver. That, combined with his adventures through history, lead me to suspect he's been taking the slow path for some reason. What is that reason?
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Glee 2x17 "A Night of Neglect"
I have such mixed feelings about this episode.
I liked that they finally paid attention to Mercedes, who was one of the best characters back in season one, but the story they chose to give her was just so awful.
I'm so glad that they split up Will & Holly and Emma & Carl, but having both happen in one episode just seems a little too obvious. The moment with the grapes was so cute. They're clearly setting it up for Will and Emma to get back together eventually, which I'm happy about, but I think they're handling it clumsily. Mostly I'm really glad that Holly is gone. I wish, just once, they could have an adult female on the show that didn't become a love interest for him.
It was nice to see that some of the Glee kids do have other interests and a life outside of New Directions (I guess that's slightly unfair, some of the boys do play football...). I feel like Artie and Tina and Mike are some of the least developed characters in the show, so it was nice for them to be given a little more oomph. Sort of unfortunate that every Asian character who's ever been on the show is part of the academic decathalon...
Nice that they brought back Sunshine and are actually building the rivalry with Vocal Adrenaline back up, and are apparently actually going to prepare for Nationals rather than doing what they do with every other competition and going "oh man that competition, we should pick some songs" the week before it happens.
I don't know, I guess my overall analysis is that I liked all the things that are happening and being set up in this episode, but I feel like they just weren't executed well. I think another thing I liked about this episode was its limited focus on the Rachel/Finn/Quinn situation because those three bore me to death.
I'm both excited and trepidatious for the upcoming episodes. We know from the promos that Kurt returns to McKinley in tonight's episode, so that's exciting. Kurt is also one of the best characters, and hopefully his return will provide more opportunities for Mercedes to be important as well. Although I can see there being accusations of him only coming back so that he could go to Nationals... actually, given his conversation with Blaine after Regionals, I can totally see that happening.
Also, reading plot synopses of upcoming episodes, there are lots of things happening. April Rhodes is returning, as is Jesse St. James. Let's get one thing straight: I adore Kristin Chenoweth. That said, I'm not keen on yet another return by her... I predict right now, she shows up and encourages "bad behaviour" amongst the kids and "shakes things up" in Will's love life... because she's a plot device, and the writers bring her in when those things need to happen.
As for Jesse St. James... if this is done right, I will be happy. Jesse and Rachel were a way better couple than Finn and Rachel ever were. If he comes back and gets back together with Rachel and finally pulls us out of the Rachel/Finn/Quinn triangle, I will be so happy. If he comes back as a plot device to make Finn jealous and realize what he's missing out on... ugh. I will be less than happy.
All that said, though, even if all of these are handled well, it still might not be a good thing. A renewed focus on Will and Emma's relationship, bringing back April and Jesse... it has serious potential to just be season one all over again, which would be an improvement over season two so far, but I think it should be new and different and not the same boring stuff, because that's exactly my problem with the continuous focus on Rachel/Finn/Quinn trash. Anyway, I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it all plays out.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Season 5, Part 2
I meant to post this days ago, but I've been schooling and packing and moving and cleaning and unpacking, and so I haven't had time to get it written up.
"The Vampires of Venice" - Fantastic episode. Instalove for Rory. Interesting parallel of Amy/Rory/Doctor compared to the earlier situation of Rose/Mickey/Doctor. Doctor has grown up and learned to deal with these situations, even if only to protect himself from getting hurt again. I was also interested that he was being propositioned by someone going by the name of Rosanna - but maybe I just read too much into these things. Although his reaction there also fits with the Doctor growing up. He turns her down, seemingly, on the basis of their differing species ('Think of the children'), something that never seemed to be an issue with Rose. Wow, I can really make anything about Rose. Main point of this episode: I love Rory.
"Amy's Choice" - Another fantastic episode. This one was a total mindfuck, obviously. I would like to rewatch this one. I think it would be really interesting to analyze it after knowing the 'big reveal' at the end of the episode, you know?
"The Hungry Earth"/"Cold Blood" - I'm not sure I've ever hated a character on this or any show as much as I did Ambrose. Ugh. I was actually in tears when Amy and Nasreen were negotiating with Eldane because you knew everything had already gone wrong on the surface and their beautiful plans were never going to work out. Also, Nasreen/Tony was the cutest thing. But Rory, oh Rory... I mean I knew he came back because I'd already seen "The Big Bang" but still... his death, AGAIN, was heartbreaking.
"Vincent and the Doctor" - This was just downright heart-warming. I'm not sure I have that much to say about it. Vincent broke my heart, and the poor blind Krafayis broke my heart and poor Amy not understanding why the Doctor was being so nice to her really broke my heart. I bawled my eyes out at the ending of this.
"The Lodger" - I really liked this episode, although I felt like I really didn't understand a lot of the major plot points. Erm, how did Amy get trapped in the TARDIS again? Why was the Doctor wearing an earpiece allowing them to communicate if he didn't know they were going to get separated? Why was there a TARDIS-thing hanging out there? Lots of confusion, basically. It was a really funny episode, though, seeing the Doctor trying to be a normal person. This was the one that won me over for Matt Smith. Also, Craig and Sophie were great characters.
"The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang" - The first half of this two-parter was such a psyche-out. The Doctor was so astounded and confused about what could possibly be in the Pandorica that I couldn't help but share his sentiments, but the second the truth was revealed... well, duh, what else could it possibly? I was kicking myself for not realizing it (I had seen "The Big Bang" before, so I actually even knew, but it was long enough ago [and before I really started paying attention to the show] that I'd forgotten that part). Anyway. So my main thoughts about this episode are:
1) How did River know to take her diary to the wedding? She would have had to remember the Doctor, which means she could have just brought him back herself which means she wouldn't have had to remind Amy. Unless of course it was because she couldn't bring back the Doctor she remembered because he was an older Doctor that wasn't appropriate to the time line he needed to be brought back in or something. But still, how did River remember? Maybe the Doctor is so connected to her life that she couldn't possibly forget him...
2) How did Rory become a plastic Roman? I have a hard time believing the 'miracle' explanation...
3) Who/what blew up the TARDIS and why? I assume this will be explained this season, but I'd think the Doctor would try a little harder to figure it out soon, rather than running off taking Amy and Rory on honeymoon adventures all over the place...
"A Christmas Carol" - I love this episode. It is just the best. I'd seen it when it first aired, and I loved it then and I loved it now and I suspect I will always love it. So brilliant and magical. So good. So much love. Random unimportant thought on a minor detail: line near the end where old Kazran is debating whether or not to use up his last day with Abigail, and he says something to the Doctor about "one last day with your beloved" and Doctor is all *pouty-face* and I, as you can probably guess, assumed he was thinking of Rose, but several other blogs I've read on the subject assumed he was thinking about River and how he lost her before she even became his beloved and my immediate reaction was to assume they were over-eager about River, but on further consideration, maybe I'm just holding onto Rose too much. I don't know.
"Space"/"Time" - These were cute and fun, but not really logical. The TARDIS just happened to drift ahead in the time stream or whatever the explanation was for it? Hmmm. I would like to know, though, what it was that Amy had to talk to the Doctor about that was so important before she got distracted by Rory... I wonder if it has anything to do with her big revelation to him in the most recent episode?
Okay that's finally it. I have seen "The Impossible Astronaut" and I will be posting about it soon, but I don't want to overblog today because I have quite a bit to say about it, and I want to write about last week's Glee before the new one tomorrow, so the next Who post will probably be up Wednesday or later.
"The Vampires of Venice" - Fantastic episode. Instalove for Rory. Interesting parallel of Amy/Rory/Doctor compared to the earlier situation of Rose/Mickey/Doctor. Doctor has grown up and learned to deal with these situations, even if only to protect himself from getting hurt again. I was also interested that he was being propositioned by someone going by the name of Rosanna - but maybe I just read too much into these things. Although his reaction there also fits with the Doctor growing up. He turns her down, seemingly, on the basis of their differing species ('Think of the children'), something that never seemed to be an issue with Rose. Wow, I can really make anything about Rose. Main point of this episode: I love Rory.
"Amy's Choice" - Another fantastic episode. This one was a total mindfuck, obviously. I would like to rewatch this one. I think it would be really interesting to analyze it after knowing the 'big reveal' at the end of the episode, you know?
"The Hungry Earth"/"Cold Blood" - I'm not sure I've ever hated a character on this or any show as much as I did Ambrose. Ugh. I was actually in tears when Amy and Nasreen were negotiating with Eldane because you knew everything had already gone wrong on the surface and their beautiful plans were never going to work out. Also, Nasreen/Tony was the cutest thing. But Rory, oh Rory... I mean I knew he came back because I'd already seen "The Big Bang" but still... his death, AGAIN, was heartbreaking.
"Vincent and the Doctor" - This was just downright heart-warming. I'm not sure I have that much to say about it. Vincent broke my heart, and the poor blind Krafayis broke my heart and poor Amy not understanding why the Doctor was being so nice to her really broke my heart. I bawled my eyes out at the ending of this.
"The Lodger" - I really liked this episode, although I felt like I really didn't understand a lot of the major plot points. Erm, how did Amy get trapped in the TARDIS again? Why was the Doctor wearing an earpiece allowing them to communicate if he didn't know they were going to get separated? Why was there a TARDIS-thing hanging out there? Lots of confusion, basically. It was a really funny episode, though, seeing the Doctor trying to be a normal person. This was the one that won me over for Matt Smith. Also, Craig and Sophie were great characters.
"The Pandorica Opens"/"The Big Bang" - The first half of this two-parter was such a psyche-out. The Doctor was so astounded and confused about what could possibly be in the Pandorica that I couldn't help but share his sentiments, but the second the truth was revealed... well, duh, what else could it possibly? I was kicking myself for not realizing it (I had seen "The Big Bang" before, so I actually even knew, but it was long enough ago [and before I really started paying attention to the show] that I'd forgotten that part). Anyway. So my main thoughts about this episode are:
1) How did River know to take her diary to the wedding? She would have had to remember the Doctor, which means she could have just brought him back herself which means she wouldn't have had to remind Amy. Unless of course it was because she couldn't bring back the Doctor she remembered because he was an older Doctor that wasn't appropriate to the time line he needed to be brought back in or something. But still, how did River remember? Maybe the Doctor is so connected to her life that she couldn't possibly forget him...
2) How did Rory become a plastic Roman? I have a hard time believing the 'miracle' explanation...
3) Who/what blew up the TARDIS and why? I assume this will be explained this season, but I'd think the Doctor would try a little harder to figure it out soon, rather than running off taking Amy and Rory on honeymoon adventures all over the place...
"A Christmas Carol" - I love this episode. It is just the best. I'd seen it when it first aired, and I loved it then and I loved it now and I suspect I will always love it. So brilliant and magical. So good. So much love. Random unimportant thought on a minor detail: line near the end where old Kazran is debating whether or not to use up his last day with Abigail, and he says something to the Doctor about "one last day with your beloved" and Doctor is all *pouty-face* and I, as you can probably guess, assumed he was thinking of Rose, but several other blogs I've read on the subject assumed he was thinking about River and how he lost her before she even became his beloved and my immediate reaction was to assume they were over-eager about River, but on further consideration, maybe I'm just holding onto Rose too much. I don't know.
"Space"/"Time" - These were cute and fun, but not really logical. The TARDIS just happened to drift ahead in the time stream or whatever the explanation was for it? Hmmm. I would like to know, though, what it was that Amy had to talk to the Doctor about that was so important before she got distracted by Rory... I wonder if it has anything to do with her big revelation to him in the most recent episode?
Okay that's finally it. I have seen "The Impossible Astronaut" and I will be posting about it soon, but I don't want to overblog today because I have quite a bit to say about it, and I want to write about last week's Glee before the new one tomorrow, so the next Who post will probably be up Wednesday or later.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Season 5, Part 1
So my super-awesome skills at procrastination mean that I am already 5 episodes into this season. Whoops. At least I'll pretty much definitely be caught up by Saturday, I guess. I don't really feel like doing episode-by-episode reviews for this one, so I'm just going to give some general thoughts.
I'm still not sold on Matt Smith as the Doctor. I don't dislike him. I'm not going to be one of those people who will hate everything he does just on principle and never ever get over David Tennant. Smith's okay. I just don't love him as much as I feel like I should. Hopefully he'll win me over soon. It took me a while to warm up to Eccleston too, so maybe it's just the same thing here.
Amy Pond, on the other hand, I am so in love with. She's brilliant. I love that she questions the Doctor and disobeys him and can call out his bullshit. I guess she's kind of like Donna in that way, but younger and less shouty...
And oooh, new information about River Song! Prison! Killed the best man she ever knew! Something the Doctor couldn't handle knowing this early in his timeline! Gahh. I can see how people who watched this show in regular time would be dying over this by now.
I find it interesting that they're dealing with this season's story arc earlier on. Every other time it's been "let's throw these words in every episode and then all of a sudden have them be really important at the end of the season" but this time they're addressing what the crack is right from the beginning and having it be an important plot element throughout the season. Very interesting.
Other thoughts:
"The Beast Below" might have been the first episode I ever saw... one of the very earliest, at any right. I also happen to think it's one of the best episodes ever. And Liz 10 is such a fantastic character.
I did love the food scene in "The Eleventh Hour." That was hilarious.
During "Victory of the Daleks" I couldn't help but think that somewhere, perhaps at that very moment, Nine/Rose/Jack were out there...
I think what I'm most upset about this season is the new intro. Ugh. Do not like.
I'm still not sold on Matt Smith as the Doctor. I don't dislike him. I'm not going to be one of those people who will hate everything he does just on principle and never ever get over David Tennant. Smith's okay. I just don't love him as much as I feel like I should. Hopefully he'll win me over soon. It took me a while to warm up to Eccleston too, so maybe it's just the same thing here.
Amy Pond, on the other hand, I am so in love with. She's brilliant. I love that she questions the Doctor and disobeys him and can call out his bullshit. I guess she's kind of like Donna in that way, but younger and less shouty...
And oooh, new information about River Song! Prison! Killed the best man she ever knew! Something the Doctor couldn't handle knowing this early in his timeline! Gahh. I can see how people who watched this show in regular time would be dying over this by now.
I find it interesting that they're dealing with this season's story arc earlier on. Every other time it's been "let's throw these words in every episode and then all of a sudden have them be really important at the end of the season" but this time they're addressing what the crack is right from the beginning and having it be an important plot element throughout the season. Very interesting.
Other thoughts:
"The Beast Below" might have been the first episode I ever saw... one of the very earliest, at any right. I also happen to think it's one of the best episodes ever. And Liz 10 is such a fantastic character.
I did love the food scene in "The Eleventh Hour." That was hilarious.
During "Victory of the Daleks" I couldn't help but think that somewhere, perhaps at that very moment, Nine/Rose/Jack were out there...
I think what I'm most upset about this season is the new intro. Ugh. Do not like.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
The End of Time
Ouf. Oh boy. I'm not even sure where to start with this one. It was nice to finally get more backstory and understand what actually went down in the Time War and why the Doctor had to kill his own people. Yay exposition.
Also I just love Wilf. He's a really swell character. I liked when he said he would be proud to be the Doctor's father, and then later the Doctor said he would be proud to have him as a father. That was heart warming. But then the four knocks... oh, Wilf. Oh, Doctor. That whole scene was just awful. It didn't seem right for the Doctor to blame Wilf the way he did... I mean, he got over it, but it was really upsetting there for a minute. Especially when he said Wilf is "not remotely important." When has the Doctor ever said someone wasn't important? Didn't he have a line once where he said he'd never met someone who wasn't important? But then everything's okay. He goes back to it being his honour. And poor ol' Wilf telling the Doctor to leave him... Agh.
The ending really felt like a whole lot of cheese. He managed to not regenerate for the exact amount of time it would take to say goodbye to everyone? Geez. Also I feel like it's kind of ridiculous how they tried to give us closure by pairing everyone off nicely. Oh look, Martha has Mickey and Jack can have Alonso and Donna's married to what's-his-face and now it's okay that you'll never see them again because you know they'll all be happy. Way too much cheese... until the Doctor was leaving Donna's wedding, and I swear to you, I was really honestly actually thinking "he must be so sad he can't say goodbye to Rose"... oh Russell T. Davies, you big jerk. The second I realized what that scene was, I was in tears. And then Ood Sigma... and then the Ood song... and then "I don't want to go." So many tears.
Despite the cheese, I actually do feel like I have closure on almost all of those characters. I mean, Martha and Mickey are fine. Not a couple I would have predicted, but I was never especially fond of either of them, and from the brief clip we saw they seem to be happy. I'm okay with them. Jack... is Jack. He lives approximately forever and then may or may not become a giant face. Not to mention Torchwood is still a thing that happens, so you don't have to have closure on him, you just have to have closure on him not being pals with the Doctor any more. Sarah Jane is fine. She was only in like four episodes to begin with and she also has her own show. I'm even okay with Rose now. I didn't like her ending, but I'm okay with it. She'll be happy enough, and she'll learn to cope with looking out at the stars wishing for the real Doctor and being back in the TARDIS... (Besides, I have a feeling she'll be the Sarah Jane Smith of 30-odd years from now, when the show has been re-cancelled and re-revived and she ends up back in the appropriate universe and meets the sixteenth or so Doctor).
The one I can't handle is Donna. I can't accept that she lives happily ever after with some guy who her grandfather describes as 'sweet enough.' Sure, she might be happy, but if she had any idea what she had lost, if she knew who she really was, what she was capable of... how could she settle for that? Besides which, she's not even happy; Wilf also said that she looked so sad for no reason sometimes, as though she knew she was missing something. What kind of life is that? Also also, after her protection-majigger-thing happened when she started to remember, and the Doctor referred to her as his best friend... yeah, there were tears then, too. I'm just really unhappy about the whole Donna thing. I will never forgive this.
Okay. Matt Smith, it is time to impress me.
Also I just love Wilf. He's a really swell character. I liked when he said he would be proud to be the Doctor's father, and then later the Doctor said he would be proud to have him as a father. That was heart warming. But then the four knocks... oh, Wilf. Oh, Doctor. That whole scene was just awful. It didn't seem right for the Doctor to blame Wilf the way he did... I mean, he got over it, but it was really upsetting there for a minute. Especially when he said Wilf is "not remotely important." When has the Doctor ever said someone wasn't important? Didn't he have a line once where he said he'd never met someone who wasn't important? But then everything's okay. He goes back to it being his honour. And poor ol' Wilf telling the Doctor to leave him... Agh.
The ending really felt like a whole lot of cheese. He managed to not regenerate for the exact amount of time it would take to say goodbye to everyone? Geez. Also I feel like it's kind of ridiculous how they tried to give us closure by pairing everyone off nicely. Oh look, Martha has Mickey and Jack can have Alonso and Donna's married to what's-his-face and now it's okay that you'll never see them again because you know they'll all be happy. Way too much cheese... until the Doctor was leaving Donna's wedding, and I swear to you, I was really honestly actually thinking "he must be so sad he can't say goodbye to Rose"... oh Russell T. Davies, you big jerk. The second I realized what that scene was, I was in tears. And then Ood Sigma... and then the Ood song... and then "I don't want to go." So many tears.
Despite the cheese, I actually do feel like I have closure on almost all of those characters. I mean, Martha and Mickey are fine. Not a couple I would have predicted, but I was never especially fond of either of them, and from the brief clip we saw they seem to be happy. I'm okay with them. Jack... is Jack. He lives approximately forever and then may or may not become a giant face. Not to mention Torchwood is still a thing that happens, so you don't have to have closure on him, you just have to have closure on him not being pals with the Doctor any more. Sarah Jane is fine. She was only in like four episodes to begin with and she also has her own show. I'm even okay with Rose now. I didn't like her ending, but I'm okay with it. She'll be happy enough, and she'll learn to cope with looking out at the stars wishing for the real Doctor and being back in the TARDIS... (Besides, I have a feeling she'll be the Sarah Jane Smith of 30-odd years from now, when the show has been re-cancelled and re-revived and she ends up back in the appropriate universe and meets the sixteenth or so Doctor).
The one I can't handle is Donna. I can't accept that she lives happily ever after with some guy who her grandfather describes as 'sweet enough.' Sure, she might be happy, but if she had any idea what she had lost, if she knew who she really was, what she was capable of... how could she settle for that? Besides which, she's not even happy; Wilf also said that she looked so sad for no reason sometimes, as though she knew she was missing something. What kind of life is that? Also also, after her protection-majigger-thing happened when she started to remember, and the Doctor referred to her as his best friend... yeah, there were tears then, too. I'm just really unhappy about the whole Donna thing. I will never forgive this.
Okay. Matt Smith, it is time to impress me.
Friday, April 15, 2011
The Specials - "The Next Doctor," "The Planet of the Dead," and "The Waters of Mars"
Quick note that I meant to say last post - the other thing about Rose and Doctor 2.0 is that although Doc2 might have all of the Doctors knowledge and memories and mind and everything, he also has a fair amount of Donna in there. That ought to keep things interesting for Rose!
Alright, on to the specials!
I'd seen "The Next Doctor" twice already, so this was my third viewing. It's not the most brilliant episode, but it is a fun little romp. The Cybermen, for some reason, always crack me up ("That was designated a lieee" gets me every time). I also appreciate the slightly Steampunk style of the Cyberking. Also the 'TARDIS' was fantastic. I guess this isn't a very fun episode to re-watch because a lot of the interest depends on revealing the truth about 'the Doctor,' so once you've seen it once it's not quite as fun the next go round (or two).
"The Planet of the Dead" I had also seen before, and I'm really not sure what to make of it. I love the interactions between the Doctor and Lady Christina. I feel like in some ways she's very similar to Rose, just that she's a bad girl who already leads an exciting life instead of a good girl who hadn't had adventures yet. I don't know, I guess I had a problem with the treatment of the Doctor, too. The transition from "very very sad" at the end of season 4 to "obviously still sad, but coping" in "The Next Doctor" is believable, but then somehow for this episode being "basically normal but then at the end OH I CAN'T TAKE YOU, right, I am supposed to be sad and alone" is sort of absurd. Also, a lot of the story just feels so contrived. I don't know. The 'security' at the museum? Pffft. Having a psychic woman on the bus for apparently the sole purpose of her being able to say the "he will knock four times" line? Sort of absurd. I don't know. Not my favourite episode.
I had actually not seen "The Waters of Mars" before, but holy shit. This is probably the creepiest piece of television I have ever seen. No joke. I was going to list especially creepy scenes, but there were just too many of them. Also, like "Midnight," added creepiness for the Doctor not knowing what it was. And then extra super added creepiness for the Doctor getting scary at the end. I actually thought this episode was really really good, extremely good television, so you'd think I'd have more to say about it, but I really don't. It was hella creepy. More exposition on 'fixed points' was interesting. I liked Adelaide Brooke as a character. Doctor got scary at the end. That's about it. I guess we could talk about Adelaide's suicide... was that her feeling obligated to kill herself to make things right? Would it have worked out properly if she'd lived? If the Doctor had taken the same course of action but not told Adelaide she had to die, would she have killed herself? Or did the universe make it happen to fix the Doctor's mistake? Was he really allowed to change the laws of time like that? Lots of interesting questions, and I feel like they're leading into the next episode. Also, Ood! Why was there an Ood?
I'm both really excited and really not excited for "The End of Time." Really excited because I want to see if it does clear up things that the Doctor did in "The Waters of Mars," and also to see what the Ood have to do with it. Mostlly, though, it's one of the few major episodes that hasn't been spoiled for me. All I knew was the regeneration, and that Wilf is going to be the companion, and then from the preview at the end of "The Waters of Mars" I know that it involves the Master, but that is ALL. So I'm pumped for UNEXPECTED MAJOR HAPPENINGS. But at the same time I just want to stop now and never watch it because NO MORE DAVID TENNANT. I've heard so many good things about Matt Smith, but, but right now it seems hard to imagine it ever being okay.
Alright, on to the specials!
I'd seen "The Next Doctor" twice already, so this was my third viewing. It's not the most brilliant episode, but it is a fun little romp. The Cybermen, for some reason, always crack me up ("That was designated a lieee" gets me every time). I also appreciate the slightly Steampunk style of the Cyberking. Also the 'TARDIS' was fantastic. I guess this isn't a very fun episode to re-watch because a lot of the interest depends on revealing the truth about 'the Doctor,' so once you've seen it once it's not quite as fun the next go round (or two).
"The Planet of the Dead" I had also seen before, and I'm really not sure what to make of it. I love the interactions between the Doctor and Lady Christina. I feel like in some ways she's very similar to Rose, just that she's a bad girl who already leads an exciting life instead of a good girl who hadn't had adventures yet. I don't know, I guess I had a problem with the treatment of the Doctor, too. The transition from "very very sad" at the end of season 4 to "obviously still sad, but coping" in "The Next Doctor" is believable, but then somehow for this episode being "basically normal but then at the end OH I CAN'T TAKE YOU, right, I am supposed to be sad and alone" is sort of absurd. Also, a lot of the story just feels so contrived. I don't know. The 'security' at the museum? Pffft. Having a psychic woman on the bus for apparently the sole purpose of her being able to say the "he will knock four times" line? Sort of absurd. I don't know. Not my favourite episode.
I had actually not seen "The Waters of Mars" before, but holy shit. This is probably the creepiest piece of television I have ever seen. No joke. I was going to list especially creepy scenes, but there were just too many of them. Also, like "Midnight," added creepiness for the Doctor not knowing what it was. And then extra super added creepiness for the Doctor getting scary at the end. I actually thought this episode was really really good, extremely good television, so you'd think I'd have more to say about it, but I really don't. It was hella creepy. More exposition on 'fixed points' was interesting. I liked Adelaide Brooke as a character. Doctor got scary at the end. That's about it. I guess we could talk about Adelaide's suicide... was that her feeling obligated to kill herself to make things right? Would it have worked out properly if she'd lived? If the Doctor had taken the same course of action but not told Adelaide she had to die, would she have killed herself? Or did the universe make it happen to fix the Doctor's mistake? Was he really allowed to change the laws of time like that? Lots of interesting questions, and I feel like they're leading into the next episode. Also, Ood! Why was there an Ood?
I'm both really excited and really not excited for "The End of Time." Really excited because I want to see if it does clear up things that the Doctor did in "The Waters of Mars," and also to see what the Ood have to do with it. Mostlly, though, it's one of the few major episodes that hasn't been spoiled for me. All I knew was the regeneration, and that Wilf is going to be the companion, and then from the preview at the end of "The Waters of Mars" I know that it involves the Master, but that is ALL. So I'm pumped for UNEXPECTED MAJOR HAPPENINGS. But at the same time I just want to stop now and never watch it because NO MORE DAVID TENNANT. I've heard so many good things about Matt Smith, but, but right now it seems hard to imagine it ever being okay.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Guys, have you SEEN this?!
No really, have you? You should watch it. Like right now.
This made me so unbelievably ridiculously happy when I saw it earlier. Peter Jackson is really entertaining (also I can't get over how different he is. I mean I'd seen pictures and all but it still astounds me every time). Also Ian McKellen. Also Andy Serkis. Aghhhh. I can't believe there's still like OVER A YEAR before this movie comes out. I feel like junior high all over again.
This made me so unbelievably ridiculously happy when I saw it earlier. Peter Jackson is really entertaining (also I can't get over how different he is. I mean I'd seen pictures and all but it still astounds me every time). Also Ian McKellen. Also Andy Serkis. Aghhhh. I can't believe there's still like OVER A YEAR before this movie comes out. I feel like junior high all over again.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Season 4 ending: "Midnight" to "Journey's End"
"Midnight" was a very creepy episode. Partially because I think it was creepier not knowing what the 'monster' was than when the Doctor knows exactly what it is and how to deal with it. Partially because it took over the Doctor and he couldn't do anything about it and if the stewardess hadn't done the right thing, he'd have been a goner. Mostly, though, it was creepy because I think that is how people would react in that sort of situation, and it was terrible and I would have understood completely if it had made the Doctor lose faith in humans. It's also interesting to note that 'possession' seems to be the one thing that the Doctor can't find some way of stopping: in first "The Satan Pit," then "42," and now "Midnight," the only solution has been to kill the possessed person (who was already a victim).
"Turn Left" was a very interesting concept. I found it frustrating to watch because it was 'old Donna' who I am much less fond of than 'new Donna.' That said, I thought it was really well done, and of course Rose was in it so that was a bonus. And Donna at the end, realizing what she had to do... it was so sad and so brave and so wonderful. All of which are words I tend to associate with Donna. This episode is easy to nitpick about - in that, if Donna hadn't met the Doctor, actually none of that would have happened because the Pryoviles would have succeeded way back in the days of Pompeii... but obviously they couldn't show that.
"The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" - GAHHHH. Agh. Rawr. Gahh. You'd think having seen these episodes before and knowing what was coming would make it easier, but no, it really didn't. Mostly it made me cry all the more because I kept thinking about the ending before it actually happened. Ugh. Okay, so Rose's ending is ridiculously sad even though I know it's supposed to be happy. But I think that Doctor 2.0 will always be a bit of a consolation prize, because she's always going to know that her doctor is out there somewhere in another universe with new companions and new adventures and she'll never quite be able to accept that because we all saw how jealous she got over Martha on the Sub Wave Network. Furthermore, I think that even with Doctor 2.0 she'll still not be happy (and neither will he!) without a TARDIS to travel in and adventures to be had and worlds to save. Really though I think the saddest part of the Bad Wolf Bay scene is seeing the Doctor watch Rose with Doctor 2.0 and knowing they'll live happily ever after and that he'll never get that...
Anyway. Rose at least gets to work for Torchwood and have something better than she did before, and she will always have all her memories and her consolation prize doctor. The same way Sarah Jane and Martha and Jack and Mickey (maybe even Mickey most of all) and everyone else became a better person and did something great with their life after they left the Doctor. Donna, on the other hand, will go back to being a temp, and she'll never know that she's brilliant and the whole universe only exists because she saved. This is really all the worse after Doctor 2.0's revelation about how insecure and insignificant Donna feels. I really hope her mother takes the Doctor's advice and tells her how great she is. I hope Donna listens, and I hope she gets to be something better... and again, I hope Dr. Moon's "and then you remembered" turns out to be foreshadowing.
As with season three, I am impressed with how well different aspects of this finale were seeded throughout the season. Yes, there were the references to the Medusa Cascade and missing planets and the bees disappearing all throughout the season à la Bad Wolf and Torchwood. And of course there were the Rose appearances. But we also saw themes of memory ("Silence in the Library"/"The Forest of the Dead") and clones ("The Sontaran Stratagem"/"The Poison Sky" and "The Doctor's Daughter") and probably other things that I didn't even pick up on.
Final notes: The reference to Mr. Copper made me grin - there's a character I wish would get brought back for another appearance. Wilf's little speech to the Doctor at the end was absolutely heartbreaking. Guh. Also, how is Donna time over already? I feel like she just started. Boo. I like Donna. Even worse, though, how is David Tennant time nearly over already? I can't believe I've only got the specials left. Ugh. Everyone says "oh you'll fall in love with Matt Smith's Doctor" but right now I just can't even imagine that.
"Turn Left" was a very interesting concept. I found it frustrating to watch because it was 'old Donna' who I am much less fond of than 'new Donna.' That said, I thought it was really well done, and of course Rose was in it so that was a bonus. And Donna at the end, realizing what she had to do... it was so sad and so brave and so wonderful. All of which are words I tend to associate with Donna. This episode is easy to nitpick about - in that, if Donna hadn't met the Doctor, actually none of that would have happened because the Pryoviles would have succeeded way back in the days of Pompeii... but obviously they couldn't show that.
"The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" - GAHHHH. Agh. Rawr. Gahh. You'd think having seen these episodes before and knowing what was coming would make it easier, but no, it really didn't. Mostly it made me cry all the more because I kept thinking about the ending before it actually happened. Ugh. Okay, so Rose's ending is ridiculously sad even though I know it's supposed to be happy. But I think that Doctor 2.0 will always be a bit of a consolation prize, because she's always going to know that her doctor is out there somewhere in another universe with new companions and new adventures and she'll never quite be able to accept that because we all saw how jealous she got over Martha on the Sub Wave Network. Furthermore, I think that even with Doctor 2.0 she'll still not be happy (and neither will he!) without a TARDIS to travel in and adventures to be had and worlds to save. Really though I think the saddest part of the Bad Wolf Bay scene is seeing the Doctor watch Rose with Doctor 2.0 and knowing they'll live happily ever after and that he'll never get that...
Anyway. Rose at least gets to work for Torchwood and have something better than she did before, and she will always have all her memories and her consolation prize doctor. The same way Sarah Jane and Martha and Jack and Mickey (maybe even Mickey most of all) and everyone else became a better person and did something great with their life after they left the Doctor. Donna, on the other hand, will go back to being a temp, and she'll never know that she's brilliant and the whole universe only exists because she saved. This is really all the worse after Doctor 2.0's revelation about how insecure and insignificant Donna feels. I really hope her mother takes the Doctor's advice and tells her how great she is. I hope Donna listens, and I hope she gets to be something better... and again, I hope Dr. Moon's "and then you remembered" turns out to be foreshadowing.
As with season three, I am impressed with how well different aspects of this finale were seeded throughout the season. Yes, there were the references to the Medusa Cascade and missing planets and the bees disappearing all throughout the season à la Bad Wolf and Torchwood. And of course there were the Rose appearances. But we also saw themes of memory ("Silence in the Library"/"The Forest of the Dead") and clones ("The Sontaran Stratagem"/"The Poison Sky" and "The Doctor's Daughter") and probably other things that I didn't even pick up on.
Final notes: The reference to Mr. Copper made me grin - there's a character I wish would get brought back for another appearance. Wilf's little speech to the Doctor at the end was absolutely heartbreaking. Guh. Also, how is Donna time over already? I feel like she just started. Boo. I like Donna. Even worse, though, how is David Tennant time nearly over already? I can't believe I've only got the specials left. Ugh. Everyone says "oh you'll fall in love with Matt Smith's Doctor" but right now I just can't even imagine that.
Friday, April 8, 2011
More Season 4
So I've just finished rewatching "The Unicorn and the Wasp," "Silence in the Library," and "Forest of the Dead." Here are thoughts! Mostly Donna related. There's a lot of foreshadowing about memory that I hadn't remembered.
Oh, Agatha Christie in "The Unicorn and the Wasp." Oh, Donna. All that about her being brilliant and her books being read forever when she thinks their rubbish and they'll be forgotten. Oh, oh, oh. And that line at the end, I don't remember exactly, but Donna says something about how she'll never even know that she's the best-selling author ever. Oh, Donna. I bawled my eyes out over that. I'm going to be a slobbery mess over "Journey's End" (again). Then of course the fact of Miss Christie's memory loss. It's all about the memory and the not knowing.
The moment with Miss Evangelista in "Silence in the Library" I had picked up on the first time I saw it, not as foreshadowing because I hadn't seen "Journey's End" yet, but as a throwback to "The Runaway Bride." Donna knows well what it's like to have everyone think you're stupid - and to think they're right. It's heartbreaking, and it's hard not to feel as though that's part of why the 'ghosting' is so horrifying to her (not that it isn't horrifying on its own, but she was far more affected than everyone else).
Not as much in "Forest of the Dead" but oh how I wish Dr. Moon's "and then you remembered" catch phrase could be foreshadowing, too. Pretty please?
OKAY ENOUGH ABOUT DONNA (who am I kidding, never enough about Donna) BUT SERIOUSLY IT IS TIME TO TALK ABOUT RIVER SONG.
I know I had already seen this episode before and so there were really no surprises but I just have so. much. curiosity. about her. AGHAGHAGHAG. And I know that we still don't know by the end of season 5! Hopefully at least we know a little more? Ugh. Why is the Doctor's name so important? Why can't he tell anyone? What is that one time he could? Why does she know it? WHO IS SHE?!
So her last scene was awful. By which I mean, I cried. Even though I'd seen it before and I knew that the Doctor was going to "save" her, it was awful. He just sat there and stared with the saddest look on his face. It was almost but not quite as awful as the wall scene in "Doomsday."
Speaking of Doomsday: the music that played when the Doctor set the diary and the sonic screwdriver down on the railing thing sounded quite similar to Rose's theme. Is this because of a love interest connection thing, or is it just related to the conversation about looking up Donna's ending? On that note... not looking it up because you don't want to know is such a reasonable response. Can you imagine, always knowing how things would end? Then think about the fact that the Doctor is going to know that about River, that he's always going feel it coming closer; he's always going to know when he sees her the last time that it's the last time.
Also: wouldn't she know they hadn't done the Byzantium because I've seen half of that and he's a different person then? She should know. I know I'm nit-picking and clearly the writers weren't foreseeing that far ahead, because how could they, but, ya know. Ya know.
And what happens in the computer? Do we ever come back to computer-River? Does the Doctor somehow free her? That seems like cheating. Also it fits the impossibility bill because then he would have to keep her forever which won't happen because, you know, actors. TV. Eventually she has to go. I guess she could just die again, but... meh. Doesn't seem right to bring her back from the dead. How do we know, though? How do we know when it's the last time... surely there's not going to be a whole episode about the Doctor showing up with a new haircut and a suit and taking her to the symphony and crying? And how does he know she wants to be saved? Why would she want to be saved? She's been relegated to Rose's fate, living out her life with no hope of rejoining the Doctor. And, presumably, forever. What could be worse than that?
EDIT: Also, Lee, and his stutter, and the ending, and Donna, and agghhhh. Everything about Donna's storyline is just the worst.
Oh, Agatha Christie in "The Unicorn and the Wasp." Oh, Donna. All that about her being brilliant and her books being read forever when she thinks their rubbish and they'll be forgotten. Oh, oh, oh. And that line at the end, I don't remember exactly, but Donna says something about how she'll never even know that she's the best-selling author ever. Oh, Donna. I bawled my eyes out over that. I'm going to be a slobbery mess over "Journey's End" (again). Then of course the fact of Miss Christie's memory loss. It's all about the memory and the not knowing.
The moment with Miss Evangelista in "Silence in the Library" I had picked up on the first time I saw it, not as foreshadowing because I hadn't seen "Journey's End" yet, but as a throwback to "The Runaway Bride." Donna knows well what it's like to have everyone think you're stupid - and to think they're right. It's heartbreaking, and it's hard not to feel as though that's part of why the 'ghosting' is so horrifying to her (not that it isn't horrifying on its own, but she was far more affected than everyone else).
Not as much in "Forest of the Dead" but oh how I wish Dr. Moon's "and then you remembered" catch phrase could be foreshadowing, too. Pretty please?
OKAY ENOUGH ABOUT DONNA (who am I kidding, never enough about Donna) BUT SERIOUSLY IT IS TIME TO TALK ABOUT RIVER SONG.
I know I had already seen this episode before and so there were really no surprises but I just have so. much. curiosity. about her. AGHAGHAGHAG. And I know that we still don't know by the end of season 5! Hopefully at least we know a little more? Ugh. Why is the Doctor's name so important? Why can't he tell anyone? What is that one time he could? Why does she know it? WHO IS SHE?!
So her last scene was awful. By which I mean, I cried. Even though I'd seen it before and I knew that the Doctor was going to "save" her, it was awful. He just sat there and stared with the saddest look on his face. It was almost but not quite as awful as the wall scene in "Doomsday."
Speaking of Doomsday: the music that played when the Doctor set the diary and the sonic screwdriver down on the railing thing sounded quite similar to Rose's theme. Is this because of a love interest connection thing, or is it just related to the conversation about looking up Donna's ending? On that note... not looking it up because you don't want to know is such a reasonable response. Can you imagine, always knowing how things would end? Then think about the fact that the Doctor is going to know that about River, that he's always going feel it coming closer; he's always going to know when he sees her the last time that it's the last time.
Also: wouldn't she know they hadn't done the Byzantium because I've seen half of that and he's a different person then? She should know. I know I'm nit-picking and clearly the writers weren't foreseeing that far ahead, because how could they, but, ya know. Ya know.
And what happens in the computer? Do we ever come back to computer-River? Does the Doctor somehow free her? That seems like cheating. Also it fits the impossibility bill because then he would have to keep her forever which won't happen because, you know, actors. TV. Eventually she has to go. I guess she could just die again, but... meh. Doesn't seem right to bring her back from the dead. How do we know, though? How do we know when it's the last time... surely there's not going to be a whole episode about the Doctor showing up with a new haircut and a suit and taking her to the symphony and crying? And how does he know she wants to be saved? Why would she want to be saved? She's been relegated to Rose's fate, living out her life with no hope of rejoining the Doctor. And, presumably, forever. What could be worse than that?
EDIT: Also, Lee, and his stutter, and the ending, and Donna, and agghhhh. Everything about Donna's storyline is just the worst.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Guh.
So it's nearly midnight and I haven't made a BEDA post yet today, and I feel kind of shitty about doing this because I promised myself that this month wasn't going to be like all the other month-long blog challenges I've done that ended in shitty filler posts. In my defence, my honours thesis is due tomorrow and I'm not done yet and I had a really good post all planned out for over on my other blog but I just didn't have time to write it and so I don't see this becoming a habit yet. Anyway the point that I want to make is this: here's my favourite stop-motion music video (that is a very specific category to have a favourite of, I'm not sure I even know any others).
Cute, yes?
OKAY BACK TO WORK WITH ME. Catch y'all in a few days.
Cute, yes?
OKAY BACK TO WORK WITH ME. Catch y'all in a few days.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
A cappella multitrack cover songs
One thing that I love in the internet is YouTube videos of people doing multitrack cover versions of songs. They make me just so happy.
Here's one that I found recently: Matt Mulholland doing Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" in which he reproduces every sound in the song with only his voice. That is very impressive. I also love his cover of "Circle Life" and he does a hilarious version of Rebecca Black's "Friday."
Here's another one. Apparently this guy was famous a while ago for his cover of "A Whole New World," but I somehow missed that completely (if you did too, you should totally go check that out like right now). Anyway, this video is of him doing a medley of a variety of Disney songs. His Scar isn't great, but the rest are really good, and I admire both the versatility of his voice and his timing with getting the different panels to react to each other.
This one is much less well known, and not quite as high quality, but I still think it's beautiful, and it's an Ingrid Michaelson song, so it's hard not to like it.
And it looks like that's it for today's edition of Things I Like on the Internet (I actually just started off this post by saying that on a whim, but now I'm actually somewhat seriously considering making it a regular thing. Hmmm.)
Here's one that I found recently: Matt Mulholland doing Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" in which he reproduces every sound in the song with only his voice. That is very impressive. I also love his cover of "Circle Life" and he does a hilarious version of Rebecca Black's "Friday."
Here's another one. Apparently this guy was famous a while ago for his cover of "A Whole New World," but I somehow missed that completely (if you did too, you should totally go check that out like right now). Anyway, this video is of him doing a medley of a variety of Disney songs. His Scar isn't great, but the rest are really good, and I admire both the versatility of his voice and his timing with getting the different panels to react to each other.
This one is much less well known, and not quite as high quality, but I still think it's beautiful, and it's an Ingrid Michaelson song, so it's hard not to like it.
And it looks like that's it for today's edition of Things I Like on the Internet (I actually just started off this post by saying that on a whim, but now I'm actually somewhat seriously considering making it a regular thing. Hmmm.)
Monday, April 4, 2011
Season 4 Part 1
Haven't consumed any more pop culture recently, so I'm a little stuck on topics. I'm afraid I'll be even worse off by the next post here (probably Thursday), but maybe I'll find a time for a little something. Until then: reviews of the first half of season 4 of Doctor Who, since at the end of season 3 I found myself wishing I had written more as I went a long.
"Partners in Crime" was a good fun episode. Re-introduced Donna, told us how much she'd matured since last time we met her, and showed how hilarious a combination she and the Doctor are. Not a brilliant masterpiece, by any meanse, but still funny and enjoyable.
I wasn't super keen on "Fires of Pompeii," although I was also multitasking it with doing other things at the time, so that my have been part of the problem. I did like how Donna actually questioned the Doctor's actions instead of just going along blindly the way Rose and Martha tended to. I also liked the 'household gods' scene at the end.
"Planet of the Ood" was definitely my favourite of the first six. It was such a touching story, and it was kind of nice to see some explanation about the Ood. I will admit: I cried.
The two parter of "The Santorum Strategem"/"The Poison Sky" was alright, but not the best. The genius kid was kind of boring, and the Santorum were certainly not the most interesting enemy we've seen. I did like getting to see Martha being assertive and confident and in charge, rather than all "oh no why doesn't the Doctor love me waaahhh." I guess this is finally getting some closure on the season 3 finale. She spent her year away and even though that year didn't exist for anyone else in the world, it made a difference for her, and she is better because of it. This is what I wanted to see with her.
"The Doctor's Daughter" was also not the best. I'm curious to see what happens if/when she comes back. I assume that is clearly what they intended, but I would have expected it to happen sooner than IMDb claims it's going to. Hmmm. Anyway. I really liked the realization at the end that the war had only been going on for a matter of weeks. It's scary what amount of hatred there was between them. Also I don't understand why the TARDIS didn't translate for the Hath. They made me sad.
I guess that's it for now. I've already seen the next three episodes, but I don't remember the exact plot of "The Unicorn and the Wasp" and "Silence of the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" are two of my favourite episodes. I haven't seen the next two, and then I'm excited to re-watch "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" now that I actually understand who everyone is and what the heck is going on. Then we're onto the specials and then season 5! I'm hoping to be caught up by the time season 6 starts on April 23, but we'll see how that goes.
"Partners in Crime" was a good fun episode. Re-introduced Donna, told us how much she'd matured since last time we met her, and showed how hilarious a combination she and the Doctor are. Not a brilliant masterpiece, by any meanse, but still funny and enjoyable.
I wasn't super keen on "Fires of Pompeii," although I was also multitasking it with doing other things at the time, so that my have been part of the problem. I did like how Donna actually questioned the Doctor's actions instead of just going along blindly the way Rose and Martha tended to. I also liked the 'household gods' scene at the end.
"Planet of the Ood" was definitely my favourite of the first six. It was such a touching story, and it was kind of nice to see some explanation about the Ood. I will admit: I cried.
The two parter of "The Santorum Strategem"/"The Poison Sky" was alright, but not the best. The genius kid was kind of boring, and the Santorum were certainly not the most interesting enemy we've seen. I did like getting to see Martha being assertive and confident and in charge, rather than all "oh no why doesn't the Doctor love me waaahhh." I guess this is finally getting some closure on the season 3 finale. She spent her year away and even though that year didn't exist for anyone else in the world, it made a difference for her, and she is better because of it. This is what I wanted to see with her.
"The Doctor's Daughter" was also not the best. I'm curious to see what happens if/when she comes back. I assume that is clearly what they intended, but I would have expected it to happen sooner than IMDb claims it's going to. Hmmm. Anyway. I really liked the realization at the end that the war had only been going on for a matter of weeks. It's scary what amount of hatred there was between them. Also I don't understand why the TARDIS didn't translate for the Hath. They made me sad.
I guess that's it for now. I've already seen the next three episodes, but I don't remember the exact plot of "The Unicorn and the Wasp" and "Silence of the Library"/"Forest of the Dead" are two of my favourite episodes. I haven't seen the next two, and then I'm excited to re-watch "The Stolen Earth"/"Journey's End" now that I actually understand who everyone is and what the heck is going on. Then we're onto the specials and then season 5! I'm hoping to be caught up by the time season 6 starts on April 23, but we'll see how that goes.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
BEDA
Oh hey. It is April.
I hate April. T.S. Eliot wasn't fucking around when he said it was the cruellest month.
I've been having a really rough time motivating myself lately, and I think it's because I don't have enough to do. Some people thrive under pressure, I thrive when I'm constantly busy but still have enough time to sleep at night. Lately, I haven't been busy enough. I have time to slack off, so I do. The problem is that I have trouble stopping slacking off and getting back to work. It's killing me. I go to bed every night feeling like a zombie from staring aimlessly at my computer screen all day.
Starting yesterday, I'm going to get on with fixing my life. I'm going to get back into some good habits of exercising and playing clarinet more often. I'm also going to commit to some more demands on my time to cut down on the amount of slacking off that I do.
There's this thing that happens in April called Blog Every Day April. I don't really know a lot about it, but I know a lot of YouTubers/Nerdfighters do it, so I assume someone in that crowd started it. It's a lot like National Blog Posting Month, except in April, not November. But I'm already a day late, you say, and aren't I worried about doing what usually happens during NaBloPoMo and losing interest and posting utter shit and a whole bunch of filler posts? Wrong! I am now blogging in three different places. This means that I already posted yesterday, just not here, and also that I can spread things out a bit more, and have a little more guidance and structure to my writing.
I write the Tuesday posts on a group blog called Sisterhood of Nerdfighteria, so that covers one day a week. We usually have weekly themes, too, so I don't even have to come up with topics for that one.
I expect to be able to write two or maybe three decent quality posts per week, which will go up over on Gnomes at Night. That leaves me with three or four posts per week here, so I guess I had better increase my pop culture consumption, eh?
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