Doctor Who: "The God Complex"
Sep. 18th, 2011 10:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizbeeThere was exactly one word in this episode that I didn't like. ONE.
The one word I didn't like: "Williams." I could see where they were going, that Amy is to some extent in a state of arrested development and, even after her marriage, has been unable or unwilling to see herself as a truly adult person. She's still little Amelia Pond (UNEXPECTED CAITLIN BLACKWOOD!). But using her husband's name to signify growing up didn't work for me. On the other hand, Moff has said on Twitter that he thinks it's strange and silly that women are expected to automatically change their names upon marriage (and his wife certainly didn't) so I don't expect it will be a permanent or ongoing thing.
I expected to be very angry at Rita's death, because clever and brave women of colour and faith are all too rare in TV, and Moff's Who is still failing at diversity to a great extent. But I felt like it was a good (though tragic) death rather than a fridging: she went out on her own terms, as far as possible, refusing to be part of the Doctor's unspoken plan to use her as bait and instead drawing the minotaur away from everyone else. So instead of RAGE I'm just sad that there's an ongoing pattern of fail.
(Although, I've already seen people saying, well, she couldn't have survived and gone on to become a companion, because how could you have a person of faith in the TARDIS without a very special episode about Losing Her Faith? The tectonic forces of my eyerolling just caused a minor tsunami.)
Other than those things, I really, really loved this episode. It's like someone said, "You know what the world needs? A mash-up of 'The Horns of Nimon' and 'The Curse of Fenric'." And somehow, that person wasn't me, and it was actually made, and it was GLORIOUS. Even though all the wailing of "praise him" gave me Soldeed flashbacks. But who doesn't love a good round of LORD NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMON! IT IS IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! SOLDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"? PEOPLE WITHOUT SOULS, THAT'S WHO!
(I tried to explain to my father yesterday about how season 17 represents Doctor Who in a state of absolute perfection. He just made sputtering noises about Pertwee and Troughton and the Brig.)
Bits I loved: Rory musing on small battles and personal heroics, like overcoming a speech impediment. That's why I like Rory. I was kind of weirded out that he apparently doesn't have any kind of faith, not even faith that Amy will hit him with a shoe if the mood takes her, but then I got to thinking, he does have a lot of faith in her, but it's not remotely blind. And I'm glad that he has apparently been thinking of leaving the Doctor all ready (he referred to their time together in past tense!), because after last week it would have seemed really weird if he was happy to go along and stay. Likewise Amy, but she has her childhood programming to overcome.
I didn't dislike David Walliams' character -- although I couldn't remember his name, and just thought of him as Quisling -- but it seems like the kind of role that could be taken by any competent character actor. Not that Walliams was bad -- indeed, more the opposite, he wisely played it low-key, probably realising that a broader performance would have had the audience calling for his death -- but I'd assumed he'd have a more central role.
The important thing is OH AMY. I have to say, the Doctor is getting better at this sort of thing -- there was something about their farewell scene that made me think he was missing the good old days when he could just lock a person out of the TARDIS and give a speech about going forward in all your beliefs. But her recognition at the end that this was the right thing to do, and her sadness, that really resonated with me.
Cheer up, Amy! At least he didn't dump you in another universe! And I presume the Ponds will be back for the season finale.
And next week, the Doctor reunites with his true love, Craig. SO INFATUATED, DOCTOR! IT IS REALLY SWEET! I look forward to a recurrence of last year's fatphobia re: James Corden. (Who I haven't seen in anything else, so I have no opinion of him outside of Doctor Who, but the fanpeople saying he was too fat to be paired with Sophie got some epic side-eye from me.)
The one word I didn't like: "Williams." I could see where they were going, that Amy is to some extent in a state of arrested development and, even after her marriage, has been unable or unwilling to see herself as a truly adult person. She's still little Amelia Pond (UNEXPECTED CAITLIN BLACKWOOD!). But using her husband's name to signify growing up didn't work for me. On the other hand, Moff has said on Twitter that he thinks it's strange and silly that women are expected to automatically change their names upon marriage (and his wife certainly didn't) so I don't expect it will be a permanent or ongoing thing.
I expected to be very angry at Rita's death, because clever and brave women of colour and faith are all too rare in TV, and Moff's Who is still failing at diversity to a great extent. But I felt like it was a good (though tragic) death rather than a fridging: she went out on her own terms, as far as possible, refusing to be part of the Doctor's unspoken plan to use her as bait and instead drawing the minotaur away from everyone else. So instead of RAGE I'm just sad that there's an ongoing pattern of fail.
(Although, I've already seen people saying, well, she couldn't have survived and gone on to become a companion, because how could you have a person of faith in the TARDIS without a very special episode about Losing Her Faith? The tectonic forces of my eyerolling just caused a minor tsunami.)
Other than those things, I really, really loved this episode. It's like someone said, "You know what the world needs? A mash-up of 'The Horns of Nimon' and 'The Curse of Fenric'." And somehow, that person wasn't me, and it was actually made, and it was GLORIOUS. Even though all the wailing of "praise him" gave me Soldeed flashbacks. But who doesn't love a good round of LORD NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMON! IT IS IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! SOLDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED!"? PEOPLE WITHOUT SOULS, THAT'S WHO!
(I tried to explain to my father yesterday about how season 17 represents Doctor Who in a state of absolute perfection. He just made sputtering noises about Pertwee and Troughton and the Brig.)
Bits I loved: Rory musing on small battles and personal heroics, like overcoming a speech impediment. That's why I like Rory. I was kind of weirded out that he apparently doesn't have any kind of faith, not even faith that Amy will hit him with a shoe if the mood takes her, but then I got to thinking, he does have a lot of faith in her, but it's not remotely blind. And I'm glad that he has apparently been thinking of leaving the Doctor all ready (he referred to their time together in past tense!), because after last week it would have seemed really weird if he was happy to go along and stay. Likewise Amy, but she has her childhood programming to overcome.
I didn't dislike David Walliams' character -- although I couldn't remember his name, and just thought of him as Quisling -- but it seems like the kind of role that could be taken by any competent character actor. Not that Walliams was bad -- indeed, more the opposite, he wisely played it low-key, probably realising that a broader performance would have had the audience calling for his death -- but I'd assumed he'd have a more central role.
The important thing is OH AMY. I have to say, the Doctor is getting better at this sort of thing -- there was something about their farewell scene that made me think he was missing the good old days when he could just lock a person out of the TARDIS and give a speech about going forward in all your beliefs. But her recognition at the end that this was the right thing to do, and her sadness, that really resonated with me.
Cheer up, Amy! At least he didn't dump you in another universe! And I presume the Ponds will be back for the season finale.
And next week, the Doctor reunites with his true love, Craig. SO INFATUATED, DOCTOR! IT IS REALLY SWEET! I look forward to a recurrence of last year's fatphobia re: James Corden. (Who I haven't seen in anything else, so I have no opinion of him outside of Doctor Who, but the fanpeople saying he was too fat to be paired with Sophie got some epic side-eye from me.)
no subject
Date: 2011-09-18 12:54 am (UTC)Not only that, they were complaining it was anti feminist that she'd even want him IRL.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-18 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-18 12:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-18 01:34 am (UTC)I GUESSED IT RIGHT. I am so giving myself a prize.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-18 01:34 am (UTC)It also seems that somewhere in there Amy and Rory have dealt with the whole 'we have a child/no we don't' trauma or whatever.
It's like someone said, "You know what the world needs? A mash-up of 'The Horns of Nimon' and 'The Curse of Fenric'."
Yeah. That. \0/
no subject
Date: 2011-09-18 01:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-18 06:31 pm (UTC)Next episode has a baby - Craig and Sophie's, I guess. I wonder whether we'll get to see Eleven having feeeeelings about failing to save baby Melody.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-19 12:29 am (UTC)I'm not even going to touch on the Williams thing. It seemed needlessly mean.
no subject
Date: 2011-09-19 11:59 pm (UTC)I'm in the midst of season 17 in my watching-Classic-Who-in-order project (Horns of Nimon is, in fact, next! \o/), and because the book is there and I got it for free, I follow along reading the Fourth Doctor volume of Lawrence Miles and Tat Wood's About Time episode guide and I increasingly wonder why they hate fun. Oh, they mostly liked City of Death, but much of the rest on S17 is their failure to recognize the increasing awesomeness of Romana, and crabbing about Douglas Adams and Tom Baker, and ... feh. Just in time for the end of the season, I've decided I need to stop reading. Nimon and Shada will undoubtedly both be more enjoyable without them.