Oct. 2nd, 2011 01:36 am
Hell in high heels
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lorelaisquared and earlgreytea68 summarized most of the awesomeness about "The Wedding of River Song." But, I'm adding in my own observations and how Doctor/River suddenly leaped up into equal status with my other OTP, Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev from Slayers:
• I liked this alternate universe better than Pete's World by far. I'm with the others, I'd love to see them playing about in this universe some more.
• Amy. Oh, Amy Pond, this is the BAMF I fell in love with during "The Eleventh Hour." I love how she got her groove back and has turned into as kickass-awesome as her husband. I wish this version of Amy had been with us all along. "River Song didn't get it all from you. Sweetie." That was probably my favorite line she's ever said. I also loved the ending with Amy and River dancing to the fact that the Doctor was still alive and Amy's look of horror when she realizes she was the Doctor's mother-in-law.
• Rory. Rory is still beyond awesome as well, and I loved how he was still so protective of Amy and accepting of everything as Amy tells him they're going to get a drink and get married. Oh, and River is their child. The Doctor trying to set them up was just adorable indeed. Texting and scones.
• River's fakeout of discharging her weapons to set off the time lock. All of that angst building, then it's immediately defused by the Doctor's weird look and River's "Hello, sweetie." I couldn't stop laughing during that scene. Kudos to you, River!
• Like EGT, I didn't see the Teselecta coming either. It was obvious in hindsight, and Mike said he totally called it, but it's brilliant.
• Speaking of Kovarian, I quite adored it when the Doctor and River began flirting and she goes, "All that flirting, do I have to watch this?" YES, YOU DO.
• I teared up a bit at the homage to the Brig. I also loved the mention of Rose and Jack and thought that Moffat was foreshadowing that everything would end happily for the Doctor. After all, he's the one who penned the words, "Just this once, everybody lives!" and that was to Rose and Jack. And, just this once, everyone lived except Kovarian, but we don't mourn her. Hell, even Dorian lived! I loved that his head was in a box and a good homage to Futurama, which had Amy Pond's head in a jar in one episode.
• During the epic scene where River convinces the Doctor that not only do people love him, but he's worthy of that love, the only thing that kept me from bawling was the fact that the Livestream of the episode was pretty crappy. Then, suddenly, Mike clued into why the scene was so moving.
River: I'd suffer if I have to kill you.
Doctor: More than every living thing in the universe?
River: Yes.
Mike on IM goes, "She's Lina."
And you know what? He's right.
The context for those of you who don't know Slayers. Lina Inverse is a BAMF like River Song is. She knows an extremely powerful spell that can destroy the entire universe if she loses control of it. The enemy she's up against, one of the four subordinates of the demon lords of her world, realizes that Lina is falling in love with her self-proclaimed protector/bodyguard, Gourry, and kidnaps him. Lina fights to find Gourry and discovers him encased in a crystal along with the rest of her friends. If the crystal shatters, Gourry dies. Phibrizzo, the bad guy, wants Lina to cast the spell so he can use the chaotic energy to summon the God of their world, the Lord of Nightmares. Lina doesn't want to cast the spell because it puts the universe at risk, so Phibrizzo starts to kill Gourry. Lina automatically begins to chant the spell as he cracks Gourry's crystal.
Lina: If I lose control of this energy, I can destroy the world! But right now, I choose Gourry over the entire world!
And, like the Doctor realizing the depth of River's love for him and gives her everything in order to put the universe back to normal, Gourry does the same thing with Lina. Gourry chases Lina into chaos itself to bring her back home because he needs her and the universe isn't worth a damn without her either.
• I believe Alex Kingston said during Confidential that the Doctor married River because he honestly wanted to (I now can't find the original post that said this, and it's bugging me), and if this is correct, I agreed with this. There were too many other alternatives he could have done. Look at what he did to Donna. He could have totally saved her, but overrode her wishes to do it. In this case, he respected River's feelings and married her. Plus, I think the Doctor loves her as well. He pretty much implies they have sex when he leaves Dorian behind.
I'm perfectly OK with the Doctor being married to River. He, out of anyone on that series, deserves a happy ending. We saw so much be taken away from him and RTD always left him alone or changed. He got Rose torn away from him, Donna torn away as well and more. If the Doctor kept being the Lonely God, everyone would grow sick of it and not watch it anymore. We know the Doctor and River have a finite point because we know what happens in the Library. What's so wrong with the Doctor being in love? He's always enjoyed the human experience, and what's more human than being in love/married? We know he was married before because of his granddaughter. Heck, he married Liz I and Marilyn Monroe! I think both Nine and Ten were deeply in love with Rose Tyler. And I think Eleven is in love with River Song, and both relationships work for me. Yeah, I'm weird, I know.
I also think there's not enough positive imagery of marriage and relationships out there. It's very clear that River at the end, shown post-"Flesh and Stone" for her, is happy in her relationship with the Doctor. His words to Dorian show that he's pretty satisfied as well. There is no one cookie-cutter mold for a marriage. It's what the people in it want it to be, whether she spends her days in prison and nights gallavanting around the universe with her husband or not. It's one of the reasons I love EGT's Chaosverse so much with Ten/Rose, showing what a strong, loving relationship they have.
I'm eager to see how the subject will be addressed in series 7 next year, knowing that Rory and Amy will be back, and there's every indication that River should pop in as well. I'd love to see this foursome go on normal adventures that aren't tied into the huge arc, and I love how the Doctor can just go back to being an explorer and teacher. Can't wait to see the Christmas Special. Is it 2012 yet?
lorelaisquared and earlgreytea68 summarized most of the awesomeness about "The Wedding of River Song." But, I'm adding in my own observations and how Doctor/River suddenly leaped up into equal status with my other OTP, Lina Inverse and Gourry Gabriev from Slayers:• I liked this alternate universe better than Pete's World by far. I'm with the others, I'd love to see them playing about in this universe some more.
• Amy. Oh, Amy Pond, this is the BAMF I fell in love with during "The Eleventh Hour." I love how she got her groove back and has turned into as kickass-awesome as her husband. I wish this version of Amy had been with us all along. "River Song didn't get it all from you. Sweetie." That was probably my favorite line she's ever said. I also loved the ending with Amy and River dancing to the fact that the Doctor was still alive and Amy's look of horror when she realizes she was the Doctor's mother-in-law.
• Rory. Rory is still beyond awesome as well, and I loved how he was still so protective of Amy and accepting of everything as Amy tells him they're going to get a drink and get married. Oh, and River is their child. The Doctor trying to set them up was just adorable indeed. Texting and scones.
• River's fakeout of discharging her weapons to set off the time lock. All of that angst building, then it's immediately defused by the Doctor's weird look and River's "Hello, sweetie." I couldn't stop laughing during that scene. Kudos to you, River!
• Like EGT, I didn't see the Teselecta coming either. It was obvious in hindsight, and Mike said he totally called it, but it's brilliant.
• Speaking of Kovarian, I quite adored it when the Doctor and River began flirting and she goes, "All that flirting, do I have to watch this?" YES, YOU DO.
• I teared up a bit at the homage to the Brig. I also loved the mention of Rose and Jack and thought that Moffat was foreshadowing that everything would end happily for the Doctor. After all, he's the one who penned the words, "Just this once, everybody lives!" and that was to Rose and Jack. And, just this once, everyone lived except Kovarian, but we don't mourn her. Hell, even Dorian lived! I loved that his head was in a box and a good homage to Futurama, which had Amy Pond's head in a jar in one episode.
• During the epic scene where River convinces the Doctor that not only do people love him, but he's worthy of that love, the only thing that kept me from bawling was the fact that the Livestream of the episode was pretty crappy. Then, suddenly, Mike clued into why the scene was so moving.
River: I'd suffer if I have to kill you.
Doctor: More than every living thing in the universe?
River: Yes.
Mike on IM goes, "She's Lina."
And you know what? He's right.
The context for those of you who don't know Slayers. Lina Inverse is a BAMF like River Song is. She knows an extremely powerful spell that can destroy the entire universe if she loses control of it. The enemy she's up against, one of the four subordinates of the demon lords of her world, realizes that Lina is falling in love with her self-proclaimed protector/bodyguard, Gourry, and kidnaps him. Lina fights to find Gourry and discovers him encased in a crystal along with the rest of her friends. If the crystal shatters, Gourry dies. Phibrizzo, the bad guy, wants Lina to cast the spell so he can use the chaotic energy to summon the God of their world, the Lord of Nightmares. Lina doesn't want to cast the spell because it puts the universe at risk, so Phibrizzo starts to kill Gourry. Lina automatically begins to chant the spell as he cracks Gourry's crystal.
Lina: If I lose control of this energy, I can destroy the world! But right now, I choose Gourry over the entire world!
And, like the Doctor realizing the depth of River's love for him and gives her everything in order to put the universe back to normal, Gourry does the same thing with Lina. Gourry chases Lina into chaos itself to bring her back home because he needs her and the universe isn't worth a damn without her either.
• I believe Alex Kingston said during Confidential that the Doctor married River because he honestly wanted to (I now can't find the original post that said this, and it's bugging me), and if this is correct, I agreed with this. There were too many other alternatives he could have done. Look at what he did to Donna. He could have totally saved her, but overrode her wishes to do it. In this case, he respected River's feelings and married her. Plus, I think the Doctor loves her as well. He pretty much implies they have sex when he leaves Dorian behind.
I'm perfectly OK with the Doctor being married to River. He, out of anyone on that series, deserves a happy ending. We saw so much be taken away from him and RTD always left him alone or changed. He got Rose torn away from him, Donna torn away as well and more. If the Doctor kept being the Lonely God, everyone would grow sick of it and not watch it anymore. We know the Doctor and River have a finite point because we know what happens in the Library. What's so wrong with the Doctor being in love? He's always enjoyed the human experience, and what's more human than being in love/married? We know he was married before because of his granddaughter. Heck, he married Liz I and Marilyn Monroe! I think both Nine and Ten were deeply in love with Rose Tyler. And I think Eleven is in love with River Song, and both relationships work for me. Yeah, I'm weird, I know.
I also think there's not enough positive imagery of marriage and relationships out there. It's very clear that River at the end, shown post-"Flesh and Stone" for her, is happy in her relationship with the Doctor. His words to Dorian show that he's pretty satisfied as well. There is no one cookie-cutter mold for a marriage. It's what the people in it want it to be, whether she spends her days in prison and nights gallavanting around the universe with her husband or not. It's one of the reasons I love EGT's Chaosverse so much with Ten/Rose, showing what a strong, loving relationship they have.
I'm eager to see how the subject will be addressed in series 7 next year, knowing that Rory and Amy will be back, and there's every indication that River should pop in as well. I'd love to see this foursome go on normal adventures that aren't tied into the huge arc, and I love how the Doctor can just go back to being an explorer and teacher. Can't wait to see the Christmas Special. Is it 2012 yet?