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kangeikoThis was a rather uneven episode, which felt like a much longer story pared down to the bare bones for time. There were just too many different things competing for attention:
1. The Doctor&Amy partnership is still very young, and needs cementing. She's having vague second thoughts about what she has committed to, especially given that 'tomorrow' isn't a guaranteed destination with the Doctor. He's also seen having vague second thoughts - someone who makes a decision on his behalf, who decides to make a choice so he doesn't have to - and vascillates between taking her home and, well, not. The decisions, on both their parts to stay together and work on this burgeoning partnership, are not adequately explored.
2. Liz 10 is awesome! But the whole strand about her short (or, as it turns out, long) rule is skipped over. I find her fascinating as a character, and the premise is wonderful: someone who has made a choice, and can't live with it, so is forever erasing those years of her life. If she's nearer 300, she must have made that choice over two dozen times. Time and tie again, choosing to wipe out the last ten years of her life to stop herself from reversing a choice she feels is necessary, but unbearable... it would have been fascinating to see what happens after the abdication, rather than just having a cut-away. For that matter, exploring her secret life among her people would have been fascinating. Why the big charade? She feels that there is a conspiracy against her, but it's by the same people she's trusting to protect her... how does that work exactly? And for that matter, what's with the police state? Why are the children afraid to cry? Why are poorly-performing children snatched? That whole society is left unexplained.
3. The beast - I pretty much guessed that they were keeping it captive, as the storyline has been used a couple of times already by New Who. I liked the little twist on it - it was a sacrifice by a sentient creature to save others, and it chooses to continue despite the pain it suffered - but I was unconvinced by the Doctor's decision. Really, Doctor? You can condemn Liz for enslaving the creature - making the choice to do so to save her people - yet are willing to make the same choice yourself, to murder it to save those people. I'm not seeing a lot of difference, other than Liz can't stand the choice she has made, whereas the Doctor chooses to blame Liz for his choice, shifting responsibility. Hmmm. Not very good form, I don't think. His rage at being put in than position was well-formed, however, and it would have been interesting to see a little more made of it.
On the non-story side, stuff was awesome. The visuals were great for the most part (steam/cyperpunk-esque, love the idea of the UK split into levels, love the scary visual of the Smilers, the grime and the small children crying - less keen on the psycherdelic space whale), and Amy floating outside the TARDIS was ace. Seeing things from her mind's eye was also wonderful. Amy and the Doctor's non-splot interaction is also really really lovely (and I could have done with an extra mine/ten mins of that in this episode...).
Overall, I felt like this was a two-parter squished into a single episode to save time. Certain parts were brilliant, and others felt like they could potentially have been brilliant, if they'd been given the space to develop a little bit. I'm not quite convinced the Doctor is fully-formed as 11 yet, but Amy already rocks something fierce, and I would love to see more stuff for Liz and the Spaceship UK (minus Scotland, who have their own spaceship, of course).
So - not quite there yet, I don't quite see the Doctor has having settled down into a distinct persona. Some bits were great, some bits were quite week, and I don't think it was up to the level of last week's episode. But it certainly packed a basketful of ideas in!
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Date: 2010-04-11 10:37 pm (UTC)I'm really digging the relationship that's starting to grow between the Doctor and Amy though, I think it's got all the right nuances.
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Date: 2010-04-16 10:29 am (UTC)But 11 is interesting me (although, yeah, still cooking) and Amy is utterly awesome. :D
I loved Liz 10 too. I was at a Torchwood con last weekend and for the party immediately after the episode I was dressed as Queen Victoria... so you betcha I was going around doing the whole "I'm the bloody queen mate. Basically, I rule" bit. *wink*
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Date: 2010-04-29 11:24 am (UTC)Agreed, I love Amy something fierce and I am glad at just how awesome she is turning out.
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Date: 2010-04-29 11:29 am (UTC)I also didn't like the sledgehammer morality of the whole thing; the reduction of a complex issue about slavery down to a simple "forget or get eaten" choice.
Yes, exactly. Also, how on earth is this democracy, when you are lied to? And at some point Liz would have had to sanction it, which makes me unhappy.
At the end the situation drove me insane. I think that part of it is that we're being asked to believe that the Doctor is thinking ever so much faster than a mere human possibly could, and has instantly considered all the possible options and these are the only two possibilities... but he hasn't, because Amy immediately picks up on another possibility. Which clearly means that he didn't give it much thought at all.