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savvyliterateI admit that I didn't give series 5 of Doctor Who enough of a chance. After loving "The Eleventh Hour," I disliked the second to a point where I just decided to wait for the series to end and do a mass catch-up. Life got in the way, things like that happened, I got spoiled on the actions of one Amy Pond and chafed ... a lot. Then I saw "A Christmas Carol" and was reminded of why I really do love "Doctor Who." Then, right before series 6 began, I watched "Time of Angels," then "The Impossible Astronaut" and "Day of the Moon." I became all sorts of excited about the series again. A lot of it has to do with the amazing chemistry between the Eleventh Doctor and River Song. A good bit more are some vital changes in Amy -- enough to the point where I no longer wanted to smack her.
Here's what I've been loving about series 5 (take 2) and series 6:
River Song: I didn't have the major heart attack that a good many in fandom did over "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead" in regards to River Song and whatever role she holds in the Doctor's future. I knew that she "belonged" to a future Doctor (most likely Eleven) and that she was a setup for a time beyond David Tennant's run. As I wrote in![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
earlgreytea68's journal, series 4 was just odd because we knew that Rose was coming back and Russell T. Davies always pushed Doctor/Rose as the big romance of his tenure, and yet here's River and we're suppose to buy into a future intimate relationship with the Doctor when he still hasn't fully gotten over Rose. I don't think the entire River arc would have worked so well if the regeneration hadn't happened because everyone would still see Ten and Rose being together. Ten wouldn't be close with anyone else, not after what happened to Rose and Donna.
I also don't think that David Tennant and Alex Kingston had the right sort of chemistry to pull off the relationship. However, despite a 20-year age difference, Matt Smith and Kingston is completely different. They crackle on-screen together, and it's amazing to see them go at it. As we progress further backwards into River's timeline, you see her become not-quite-so guarded whereas the Doctor is growing to trust River the more he sees her. A lot of fandom has labeled her as a Mary Sue, but I don't really see her that way. If you watch the episodes in reverse order, in River's linear time, you can suddenly see why she makes the statements she does and takes the liberties she can with the Doctor and her knowledge of what she knows about him. I think she has to be extra vocal about this, because it reminds the Doctor who she is going to be to him and to trust her when he doesn't really know her at first.
But, seriously, Amy summarized it best in "Day of the Moon":
This scene is where my icon comes from actually. The delivery of these lines was just ... amazing and crackles with a raw sexual tension that wasn't even there with Ten and Rose in my opinion. Nine and Rose did have that, especially in "The Doctor Dances."
Yes, the Doctor and River pretty much flirt their entire way through the first two episodes of series 6, and it's pretty awesome. River can hold her own and then some. The scene right after this where River is killing the Silents and the Doctor "attempts" to help her with the sonic was also hilarious. I think some of what River says is wrong, such as her and the Doctor's timelines being in exact reverse order, because of some of what was said in "Forest of the Dead," and I don't think she's perfect. I'm eager to see who she really is, and I hope that one day we get a full series of River and the Doctor being awesome together.
But what River also shows us that curvy older women can be sexy, smart and amazing -- just like Donna Noble did. The glory doesn't always come to the young shop girl just fresh out of school. It goes to the temp from Chiswick who can type 100 words a minute and an archaeologist from the 51st century who is watching the man she loves forget her more and more as she grows older.
I can celebrate and being a big fan this particular storyline now because we have a new Doctor, the right chemistry between the actors and the knowledge that Rose's story is completely finished. She's moved on. So can we.
Do I think River is the Doctor's wife? In 2008, I said most likely not. In 2011, I can believe it. He was married at least once.
Amy Pond: The biggest problem with Amy to me seems to be inconsistent writing. One writer seems to want to have her be a Rose/Martha hybrid, another turns her into Donna. I'm finally starting to enjoy her, but I don't care for the parts where she keeps trying to seduce the Doctor. I think the Doctor works best when he has a platonic friend who isn't afraid to keep his head on straight. When Amy is being said platonic friend, she's amazing. There's an extra scene in the series 5 DVDs linking "Flesh and Stone" where Amy tricks the Doctor into the revealing images of the other female companions who traveled with him, and that's one of my favorite Amy scenes thus far even though I cringed a bit at the beginning until the Doctor sets Amy straight. I also loved "Time of Angels" when Amy saves herself from the trailer.
Because we have the awesomeness with Doctor/River and knowing that Amy is going to marry Rory, I can ignore Amy chasing after the Doctor so much. However, I can't stand how Amy treats Rory at times. As I wrote earlier tonight on![[community profile]](https://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
doctorwho, it still rankles me that Amy can treat Rory like utter crap (which she does a good bit of the time) and folks are OK with it, but when Rose did the same thing to Mickey, she was vilified. And, to me, what Amy does to Rory is far worse than anything Rose did to Mickey.
It's actually kind of hypocritical in a way because my OTP is another pairing that acts just like this: Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev. However, the key differences are that a) Lina makes it extremely clear that she respects what Gourry can do even though she does insult him quite a bit of the time and b) Lina does not go chasing after/seducing other men knowing Gourry is there.
However, there's enough good Amy/Rory moments that I hope Amy grows out of this and the end of "Day of the Moon" and "Curse of the Black Spot" makes me think she's starting to do so and is going to treat Rory better. Amy makes a really good platonic friend/granddaughter substitute for the Doctor, not someone who is pining for him.
Rory Williams: Oh, I just adore him to bits and pieces. I've always liked him from "The Eleventh Hour" on, and I'm very glad he's a fulltime companion. What he went through to wait for Amy at the end of series 5 just breaks my heart. He's really too good for her, and I sincerely hope Amy sees this at some point. But, really, do they have to turn Rory into the Kenny (South Park) of Doctor Who?
Eleven: I love Eleven. I love how he has none of the Time War angst that clung to Nine and Ten. He's far-enough removed from that, and he's just loads of fun while showing a wide range of emotions from giddy to Mr. Grumpy Face. Fezzes, bow ties, Stetsons and pirate hats are cool!
As a result of the Doctor/River awesomeness, I wound up creating two one-shots while I was sick last week. The first was a trial in writing both of them, the second I absolutely love and it's pretty funny:
"Out of Order" - Set at the end of "Day of the Moon" and chocked full of spoilers
"Our Own Brand of Domesticity" - Set at an earlier point in River's life, no real spoilers. It does have a sock-eating monster.
Here's what I've been loving about series 5 (take 2) and series 6:
River Song: I didn't have the major heart attack that a good many in fandom did over "Silence in the Library" and "Forest of the Dead" in regards to River Song and whatever role she holds in the Doctor's future. I knew that she "belonged" to a future Doctor (most likely Eleven) and that she was a setup for a time beyond David Tennant's run. As I wrote in
earlgreytea68's journal, series 4 was just odd because we knew that Rose was coming back and Russell T. Davies always pushed Doctor/Rose as the big romance of his tenure, and yet here's River and we're suppose to buy into a future intimate relationship with the Doctor when he still hasn't fully gotten over Rose. I don't think the entire River arc would have worked so well if the regeneration hadn't happened because everyone would still see Ten and Rose being together. Ten wouldn't be close with anyone else, not after what happened to Rose and Donna.I also don't think that David Tennant and Alex Kingston had the right sort of chemistry to pull off the relationship. However, despite a 20-year age difference, Matt Smith and Kingston is completely different. They crackle on-screen together, and it's amazing to see them go at it. As we progress further backwards into River's timeline, you see her become not-quite-so guarded whereas the Doctor is growing to trust River the more he sees her. A lot of fandom has labeled her as a Mary Sue, but I don't really see her that way. If you watch the episodes in reverse order, in River's linear time, you can suddenly see why she makes the statements she does and takes the liberties she can with the Doctor and her knowledge of what she knows about him. I think she has to be extra vocal about this, because it reminds the Doctor who she is going to be to him and to trust her when he doesn't really know her at first.
But, seriously, Amy summarized it best in "Day of the Moon":
The Doctor: Ah, no, stay where you are! 'Cause look at me, I'm confident. You wanna watch that, me when I'm confident. Oh, and this is my friend River. Nice hair, clever, has her own gun. Oh, and unlike me she really doesn't mind shooting people. I shouldn't like that, kinda do a bit.
River: Thank you, Sweetie.
The Doctor: I know you're team players and everything, but she'll definitely kill the first three of you.
River: Oh, the first seven, easily.
The Doctor: Seven. Really?
River: Oh, eight for you, honey.
The Doctor: Stop it.
River: Make me.
The Doctor: Yeah well, maybe I will.
Amy: Is this really important flirting? Because I feel like I should be higher on the list right now.
This scene is where my icon comes from actually. The delivery of these lines was just ... amazing and crackles with a raw sexual tension that wasn't even there with Ten and Rose in my opinion. Nine and Rose did have that, especially in "The Doctor Dances."
Yes, the Doctor and River pretty much flirt their entire way through the first two episodes of series 6, and it's pretty awesome. River can hold her own and then some. The scene right after this where River is killing the Silents and the Doctor "attempts" to help her with the sonic was also hilarious. I think some of what River says is wrong, such as her and the Doctor's timelines being in exact reverse order, because of some of what was said in "Forest of the Dead," and I don't think she's perfect. I'm eager to see who she really is, and I hope that one day we get a full series of River and the Doctor being awesome together.
But what River also shows us that curvy older women can be sexy, smart and amazing -- just like Donna Noble did. The glory doesn't always come to the young shop girl just fresh out of school. It goes to the temp from Chiswick who can type 100 words a minute and an archaeologist from the 51st century who is watching the man she loves forget her more and more as she grows older.
I can celebrate and being a big fan this particular storyline now because we have a new Doctor, the right chemistry between the actors and the knowledge that Rose's story is completely finished. She's moved on. So can we.
Do I think River is the Doctor's wife? In 2008, I said most likely not. In 2011, I can believe it. He was married at least once.
Amy Pond: The biggest problem with Amy to me seems to be inconsistent writing. One writer seems to want to have her be a Rose/Martha hybrid, another turns her into Donna. I'm finally starting to enjoy her, but I don't care for the parts where she keeps trying to seduce the Doctor. I think the Doctor works best when he has a platonic friend who isn't afraid to keep his head on straight. When Amy is being said platonic friend, she's amazing. There's an extra scene in the series 5 DVDs linking "Flesh and Stone" where Amy tricks the Doctor into the revealing images of the other female companions who traveled with him, and that's one of my favorite Amy scenes thus far even though I cringed a bit at the beginning until the Doctor sets Amy straight. I also loved "Time of Angels" when Amy saves herself from the trailer.
Because we have the awesomeness with Doctor/River and knowing that Amy is going to marry Rory, I can ignore Amy chasing after the Doctor so much. However, I can't stand how Amy treats Rory at times. As I wrote earlier tonight on
doctorwho, it still rankles me that Amy can treat Rory like utter crap (which she does a good bit of the time) and folks are OK with it, but when Rose did the same thing to Mickey, she was vilified. And, to me, what Amy does to Rory is far worse than anything Rose did to Mickey.It's actually kind of hypocritical in a way because my OTP is another pairing that acts just like this: Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev. However, the key differences are that a) Lina makes it extremely clear that she respects what Gourry can do even though she does insult him quite a bit of the time and b) Lina does not go chasing after/seducing other men knowing Gourry is there.
However, there's enough good Amy/Rory moments that I hope Amy grows out of this and the end of "Day of the Moon" and "Curse of the Black Spot" makes me think she's starting to do so and is going to treat Rory better. Amy makes a really good platonic friend/granddaughter substitute for the Doctor, not someone who is pining for him.
Rory Williams: Oh, I just adore him to bits and pieces. I've always liked him from "The Eleventh Hour" on, and I'm very glad he's a fulltime companion. What he went through to wait for Amy at the end of series 5 just breaks my heart. He's really too good for her, and I sincerely hope Amy sees this at some point. But, really, do they have to turn Rory into the Kenny (South Park) of Doctor Who?
Eleven: I love Eleven. I love how he has none of the Time War angst that clung to Nine and Ten. He's far-enough removed from that, and he's just loads of fun while showing a wide range of emotions from giddy to Mr. Grumpy Face. Fezzes, bow ties, Stetsons and pirate hats are cool!
As a result of the Doctor/River awesomeness, I wound up creating two one-shots while I was sick last week. The first was a trial in writing both of them, the second I absolutely love and it's pretty funny:
"Out of Order" - Set at the end of "Day of the Moon" and chocked full of spoilers
"Our Own Brand of Domesticity" - Set at an earlier point in River's life, no real spoilers. It does have a sock-eating monster.