Space Teeth??!!

[jjpor]

This is going to be very short and boring, but yeah, I liked this week's Doctor Who. I liked it a lot. I think it might be the best episode since The Eleventh Hour. Yes, and even a certain returning character's role in the proceedings too. So there. ;D

Anything more intelligent than that will have to wait until I see part two, of course; I think as a two-parter the story could still go either way at this point, but the early signs are quite encouraging.

SPOILERS!!!! IN COMMENTS THREAD FOR EP 5/1/31x04, THE TIME OF ANGELS!!!

Comments

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

I just hope they're not going to have her be, like, The Love of His Life or anything.

[greatbriton.livejournal.com]

It doesn't even seem by the way she's acting, at least in this episode, that even River Song thinks she's the love of the Doctor's life or that he was hers really. Because obviously they separated or something happened to The Doctor. D:

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Hmm, yeah, good point. But one of the things I'm really liking about the way Moffat writes the various relationships between the three of them is that there's none of that silly melodramatic unrequited-love malarkey we'd be getting if it was RTD. That can only be a good thing.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

No, it's all been kept nicely jokey and points-scoring-y so far - banter and stuff rather than "deep and emotional Ten!wibbling" or whatever. Not really shippy at all, except for this mysterious relationship they have that may or may not have been marriage. The main emotion displayed seems to be Eleven's awkward realisation that he knows how she's going to die and the difficulty he's going to have not being able to warn her or anything.

What I thought was really positive though was Amy's reaction to River and the idea of River/Doctor - she clearly likes and is amused by River and admires her obvious skills, without it seeming ridiculously hero-worshippy or anything, and the pair of them kind of gang up on the Doctor, in a humorous way, which I thought was nice. But the really good part, is that Amy isn't jealous or defensive or any of those sort of things we might have expected if RTD had been writing it. In fact, she seems to find the idea of the Doctor possibly having this ex-wife he never talks about quite funny. Would we have got that in the Ten era (except maybe from Donna?)

And there was a really nice/funny bit where Amy asks the Doctor at a tense moment "do you really think I'm that clingy?" Not that Moffat would be getting in any cheap shots at Rusty or Rose. Not at all... ;D

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

I've yet to be convinced River's married to the Doctor at any point - I think they're friends with benefits (at most), which benefits include him catching her whenever she tosses herself out of an airlock. *smirk*

Personally I love River Song and don't care who knows it.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the...whatever between River and the Doctor will turn out to be much more complicated than just being married. I mean, what's all this business about her not wanting to go back to jail and the bishop warning her not to let the Doctor find out "who or what" she is??

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Yes, I think so too - she hinted as much to Amy when River asked her if she really thought it'd be anything as simple as marriage.

I do know a bit of what River's secret is - I read an interview which turned out to be spoilery for 5.05 as well as 5.04.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

So, is she really a Time Lord, then? No, NO - DON'T ANSWER THAT - I'll find out for myself next time. XD

I liked the way they played with the marriage idea - seeming to say it was that, then taking a step back, toying with fandom's various theories. I'm sure it's all just a red herring for what's really going on.

I have a theory about that bit in the first trailer back around Xmas, where Amy kisses Eleven - it's to do with the hallucinogenic lipstick, isn't it? And that's why they're wandering around a forest in ep 2 - a trippy, imaginary forest... ;D

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Oh, it was nothing about whether River's a Time Lord! Just something about why she was in prison...

Yes it was amusing the way Moffat seemed to have Eleven agree with Amy that River is his future!wife, and then it turned out he was agreeing that he was Mr Grumpyface today. And then River teasing Amy about the same subject.

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

No, I don't really think she's a Time Lord - it's just one of the stranger ideas I've seen around. XD Surely Ten would have spotted that right away, and said something?

And yes, the toying with the audience (specifically that part of the audience made up of dedicated fans) was very clever - say what you like about Moffat, he understands fandom and how to play it.

[persiflage-1.livejournal.com]

Well, not if she was a fobwatched Romana, for example. (I've seen that suggested, and also that she's really another incarnation of the Doctor! O_O)

Yes, Moffat gets it totally!

[akashasheiress.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but it's the ''just'' being married thing that worries me because it still implies a romantic relationship. Yeah, I'm kind of just hoping this whole thing will be resolved by the next episode so that it'll stop being in the way, although I doubt it.:P

[jjpor.livejournal.com]

Yes, it seems that they plan on keeping us guessing and guessing as to the nature of the River/Doctor thing, although I'm now a bit less worried about it than I was, as it seems there's something plotty and interesting going on. I'll be very disappointed if the big reveal is "ta dah - she was his future wife all along!" ;D