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rusty_haloI watched Voyage of the Damned twice last night.
Yay! I loved it!
First of all, David Tennant. I'm surprised my screen didn't melt from the sheer hotness of David Tennant. In a tux! Being all brave and action-hero-ish! Giving speeches! And angsting with that far away distant broken stare that he does so well. *sigh* I haven't been this enthralled by an actor in a very long time. For the love of god, I hope I never meet him and have it ruined for me.
So, let's see. Apparently there was other stuff in this episode aside from David Tennant. My computer speakers suck; they're so loud that the neighbors came knocking to complain, but so muffled that I couldn't make out much of the dialogue. I ended up rearranging my room so that I could reach a wire from my PC to my bed and then watch it sprawled on the bed with headphones on. Much better.
It was really cheesy, but mostly in a good self-aware/pastiche kind of way. I feel like I'm probably missing something by never having seen The Poseidon Adventure or Titanic (don't start!) but I've seen enough disaster movies to get the idea. There were a couple of moments that had me grimacing, but I noticed them less on re-watch. I think you have to block out a lot of your objections to silly stuff in order to watch this show. (Imagine how perfect it would be to watch as a little kid, though--the stuff that adults grimace at is the same stuff that leaves kids in awe.)
Yay for geeky in jokes. "Passenger 57." "42" "Alonso!" That the guy was named "Alonso" was just awesome.
I love the way the show plays with Christian imagery. The evil angels killing people with halos and lifting the Doctor up to heaven. It's a Christmas episode! Maybe it's because I'm a former Catholic turned atheist who still has major issues with Christianity, but I love the way this show keeps the imagery of Christmas but subverts it into something disturbing (this year's angels, last year's murderous Christmas star). I mean, Christianity does have all kind of cool imagery, so why not put it into a Christmas special, disconnected from its original Christian connotations and remade into something new?
Kylie Minogue. I'm probably the only person on the planet who didn't know who she was until this episode, but uh, she can't act? I mean, she's not as dull as Martha; she's got a bit of charisma, at least. But she was pretty painful to watch. Part of that is the writing, though; the companion formula has gotten terribly predictable. Take one cute young(ish) woman, add boredom/discontent with her current life, throw in a desire for travel and adventure, and, oh yeah, make sure to show her caring for the wounded and less fortunate whenever the opportunity arises.
(I can't wait for Donna. I'm so pleased they broke the mold and cast someone different. It's like they're saying "we still have new stories to tell and aren't just going to repeat ourselves forever.")
There really wasn't enough to Astrid to justify the Doctor's falling for her so fast, but I'm going to assume that it's just because she reminded him of Rose. And it's funny how they keep hedging their bets with his sexuality; as usual, she kisses him while he stands there looking boggled, and then when he finally does kiss her, he already knows she's stardust. Commitment issues, much?
Although, speaking of commitment issues. What is with the whole "oh, it's so lonely traveling, and you end up with nothing, and wouldn't it be nice to settle down with a house and a garden" theme? Did I accidentally switch over to Queer as Folk US? "Oh, Brian, you have to settle down, you're going to die miserable and alone if you don't marry Justin and get a mortgage immediately!"
Did I mention how hot David Tennant was in this episode? Honestly, I can't really criticize a show that gives me 71 minutes of David Tennant in a tux, looking increasingly disheveled and brave and heartbroken.
Actually, what did surprise me was the body count. This was dark! I'm glad, because the show has been really formulaic: disaster strikes, the situation looks hopeless, the Doctor promises to save everyone, and despite all odds, he does! Or, at least, he saves everyone who "counts"; who really cares about Mr. Llewellyn or Lance or the random Red Shirts of the episode? I really like the theme that the Doctor is not a god, that he does not and should not be able to choose who lives and who dies, because the show was pretty much subtextually running that way up until now. I'm glad they called it out and changed it.
And I liked how they subverted both disaster movie cliches and their own traditions with who lives and who dies. I mean, imagine Speed if Sandra Bullock died and Keanu Reeves ended up saying goodbye to, like, random old guy bus survivor instead? And after two Christmas episodes of the Doctor bonding with a young(ish) woman, it was nice to see him bonding with someone totally different. (I've seen people whining at the double standard, that the Doctor only takes along cute women and won't take the old man, but it's obviously a different issue. In that moment, he wouldn't have taken anyone, because he felt that it was too dangerous, and he couldn't stand the thought of losing someone else. Poor Doctor is so emotionally needy, but knows that his mere presence puts people at risk, and keeps pushing people away because he doesn't want to face the pain of losing them. Maybe I should write that "why the Doctor is like Lymond" essay that's been percolating in my brain.)
I loved that the asshole guy survived, because that's how reality would be; good people die and awful people live and the awful people don't even necessarily learn lessons or get their comeuppance, either. I've heard people complaining that the minorities and women all died while the white men survived, but I don't have a problem there, because it was sad. It was really heartbreaking that the good and interesting people died; that was part of the point of the story. The misfits that the Doctor liked and related to were dead, and the total douchebag survived.
I was surprised that Astrid died. I mean, I knew obviously something was up when he agreed to take her on as a companion. But after the big celebrity casting and all the publicity and the fact that it was Christmas day, I still didn't expect them to send her to her death. Aren't the little kids going to be all traumatized? (I love that she died, because it means angst for the Doctor, and I love being surprised, so it's all good with me.)
There was an interesting theme related to money running through this episode. I guess Titanic stories usually do end up dealing with class as an issue. The couple who won their tickets being treated rudely; their major worries over the 5,000 credits contrasted with the asshole guy's arrogance; Astrid unable to afford the travel and adventure she wants out of life; the Doctor describing himself as penniless; the captain selling out the ship in order to get money for his family; the supervillain engineering the whole the whole thing out of bitterness over the failed corporation; the old guy getting his happy ending because of a million dollar credit card.
As usual, the rich characters were greedy and awful and the poor characters were salt of the earth good guy types (you should hear![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
drujan go on a rant about how mean J. K. Rowling is in portraying her rich characters as bad and her poor characters as good). And the contrast is between how not having money holds you back from things you want to do with your life (whether it's Astrid traveling or the old guy settling down) versus how those who have money take it for granted and let their greed run rampant. Definitely a theme of money corrupting people--the captain, the supervillain (sorry, he was so cheesy I didn't bother remembering his name)--so that it was weird how the happy ending for the old guy was, surprise, money!
The supervillain. Doctor Evil! He was so Doctor Evil, wasn't he? I mean, I guess they were kind of going for James Bond villain, which is what Doctor Evil is a parody of, but man, he was cheesy. I'm going to assume purposely cheesy and just laugh it off, I suppose.
The fat jokes were annoying. What's with Russell T Davies and fat jokes? Honestly. I know he's writing for the child audience, but come on. There was some annoying story bits, too; I'm good at suspending disbelief, but it's a little much how, like, the guy who got shot seemed to recover so quickly, or how the angels thought the Doctor was the next highest authority even though he'd told them he was a stowaway... but, whatever, David Tennant in a tux pwns all.
Did I have any other thoughts? I don't know. Honestly, I loved it. David Tennant looked so good. I loved him telling everyone that he's a Time Lord, I loved him marching purposefully and looking heroic, I loved the angels carrying him up to the bridge, I loved how each person who died broke him a little bit more, I LOVED him freaking out over not being able to save Astrid. "I can do anything!"
He's such an optimist, and I love that he approaches every situation with the idea that he can fix everything and save everyone, but there's a deeper level to it, that deep down he knows he can't save everyone, that he's so hurt from everyone he's lost, which is what makes him try even harder, kind of this frantic desperate need to save people, not to lose anyone else. Last season ended with him not being able to save the Master, and I was a little worried that they'd try to fluff over that and make him bright and happy again, so I love that this episode kept that theme and only made it darker.
***
I brought seasons two and three home for Christmas, and between interminable amounts of cooking bad food (my mom insisted we make this dish which consists primarily of seitan and shiitake mushrooms in a dry red wine sauce, only we didn't have any seitan [we used tofu, bleh], had only dried shiitake mushrooms [double bleh] and only had a sweet red wine that made the whole thing even grosser), visiting with relatives whose names I can't remember, and sitting around staring blankly into the distance, I made my parents watch Doctor Who.
I use them as my "generic American audience study group" when I show them stuff. For the first time ever, my dad actually got into a show I brought home! (He would flee the room the instant I even mentioned Buffy, and he watched about ten minutes of a Sharpe movie while complaining the whole time about the fact that the French were the bad guys [I tried to explain that it's the Napoleonic wars and Sharpe's just trying to survive and anyway he ends up with a Frenchwoman, but Dad just hates... I dunno... everything.])
But! Dad liked it! And wanted to watch more! And asked me questions about it! Of course, he was asking questions about all the science stuff, but still. We had an actual conversation about where and when in history or the future we'd go, if we had a TARDIS. I showed them "The Christmas Invasion," "New Earth," "Tooth and Claw," "School Reunion," "The Girl in the Fireplace," "The Impossible Planet," "The Satan Pit," "Army of Ghosts," "Doomsday," "Utopia," "The Sound of Drums," and "Last of the Time Lords."
Dad actually had to leave before we got to "Last of the Time Lords" and he actually asked me what happened next and where he could see the next episode! I'll have to upload it for him or something.
Mom didn't get too into it. First of all, she kept complaining that she couldn't understand anything that was going on, and I thought that was because of the technobabble, but no, she literally couldn't understand them. My mom is one of the dumb Americans that John Oliver on BBC America tells to turn on the subtitles! So I had to turn on the subtitles so that she could understand the wacky British accents. *headdesk*
Watching with my parents made me appreciate the importance of a character like Jackie. When I was watching it withjaydk it was like, why is this character here taking up space that could be used by a more interesting character? But my mom seemed to find her a relatable point of entry to the wacky sci-fi world. (And my Dad seemed to like the Doctor's logical science-oriented approach to everything. Every time Dad would start to ask some persnickety question about the logic of it all, the Doctor would ask the same thing.)
Mom compared the Doctor to Peter Pan in "The Girl in the Fireplace," which, yeah, totally. She kind of gets it. I think she was turned off by how relentlessly goofy he is in season two; that struck me too, how goofy he is in that season compared to later on. He really changes so much once Rose is gone. (And I like him goofy, but I like him angsty even better.)
Mom cried during "Doomsday," though! She started out just going on about how silly the show was (they compared it to The Adventures of Brisco County Jr) and I think it really surprised them how emotionally intense it got. (Well, Mom. Dad doesn't get emotionally involved in anything.)
So we jumped straight ahead to "Utopia" after "Doomsday" because I wanted the show them the Master. He is so awesome. My mom was laughing at a lot of the goofy stuff he does, while going "This show is so weird." Well, yeah, but isn't the Master awesome? Mom kept staring blankly at me every time I said that.
After we finished I asked Mom whether she preferred Martha or Rose and she just looked at me like I was a moron.
Me: "What?"
Mom: *continues to stare at me like I'm insane*
Me: "You like Rose better?"
Mom: "Well, obviously!"
Me: "Why?"
Mom: "Well, because she's fun and full of joy and relatable and... she just loves life!"
Me: "And Martha has all of time and space and instead she just mopes around whining that the Doctor doesn't love her?"
Mom: "Exactly."
Me: "You know people on the internet get into like, battles to the death over which one they like better."
Mom: *more staring at me like I'm insane*
Me: Of course, I like the Master best of all.
Mom: *obviously too much for her*
***
I'm doing this Doctor Who thing all out of order, aren't I? I finally saw the end of season one last week.jaydk had me over Thursday night for our annual exchanging of gifts (she got me so much good stuff! two Harry Potter DVDs, and Dorothy Dunnett's King Hereafter, and a Doctor Who book by Graeme Harper that I read on the airplane! but I got her Casanova starring David Tennant, and a "Vote Saxon" t-shirt, and some old Doctor Who episode that she wanted, so it almost evens out). Anyway. We had a lot of fun and I finally got to see the end of season one.
My main thoughts were:
* I like Jack a lot more now that I know where he comes from. It's cool to see a much younger and less experienced version of him; he's a lot more hardened now. I'd only seen one version and now he has more dimensions since I've seen how he's developed. (Maybe I will end up watching Torchwood.) Aww, and his goodbye kiss with the Doctor was so wonderful!
* Rose! I really love Rose. I already liked her in season two, but after seeing season one I have a huge appreciation for the character's journey and for the actress. I'm glad, because I so rarely like female characters, and it's not because I'm secretly a self-hating misogynist, it's because female characters are usually written poorly or are written with personality traits and priorities that I don't relate to or are played by actresses clearly cast for their looks and not their acting skills. But Rose loves life, and adventure, and traveling, and her "normal world" and "normal life" aren't enough for her, and the character is flawed and three dimensional and interesting, and the actress is actually really good. I like her!
* It was so sad when Nine regenerated. Except that he turned into David Tennant, so, y'know, I can't really be that sad. I don't think I'll be able to watch the show anymore after David Tennant leaves, though. I liked Eccleston, but really I was just waiting for Tennant to show up.
* The final three episodes were written so well! I was very impressed with the writing of season one, and it just seemed to get better throughout the season. The fact that this show is written so well just continues to impress me. I love that they have an idea of the end when they start the season, so that they're able to weave clues and themes throughout. It's such a nice contrast from the American shows I've watched where you really can just tell that they're making it up as they go and have no clue where they'll end up or what they're trying to say.
***
I'm happy because I have a whole bunch of shows to watch. I'm still only on episode five of Life on Mars, so I get to finish the first season and watch the whole second season. Then there's season one of Torchwood, and I'll be able to watch season two in real time if I decide to. Oh, and I've been saving up the new Robin Hood as it airs, although I haven't watched it yet, so I'll be able to watch its whole second season in one go (I'm all about Guy of Gisborne). And then Doctor Who starts up again in the spring. (I think I should just move to England.)
Oh, and the Daily Show and Colbert Report start up again in January. I'm still feeling a little iffy about that, since I support the strike, but I know there's no way I'll be able to resist Colbert. ;)
Real life continues to suck, but thank god 2007 is over. I so hope that 2008 will be better. I'll finally have vacation days again! I'm going to London and I'm going to see David Tennant in Hamlet! (I'm putting all my Christmas money into a "London fund"; maybe by the time October arrives I'll actually be able to afford to go there. Damn exchange rate.) What else? I haven't seen Sweeney Todd yet. There's a new Christian Bale Batman and isn't Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man coming out this year? And a new Harry Potter movie! Who needs real life when you've got fandom? Good stuff to look forward to. 2008. Yay.
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
Yay! I loved it!
First of all, David Tennant. I'm surprised my screen didn't melt from the sheer hotness of David Tennant. In a tux! Being all brave and action-hero-ish! Giving speeches! And angsting with that far away distant broken stare that he does so well. *sigh* I haven't been this enthralled by an actor in a very long time. For the love of god, I hope I never meet him and have it ruined for me.
So, let's see. Apparently there was other stuff in this episode aside from David Tennant. My computer speakers suck; they're so loud that the neighbors came knocking to complain, but so muffled that I couldn't make out much of the dialogue. I ended up rearranging my room so that I could reach a wire from my PC to my bed and then watch it sprawled on the bed with headphones on. Much better.
It was really cheesy, but mostly in a good self-aware/pastiche kind of way. I feel like I'm probably missing something by never having seen The Poseidon Adventure or Titanic (don't start!) but I've seen enough disaster movies to get the idea. There were a couple of moments that had me grimacing, but I noticed them less on re-watch. I think you have to block out a lot of your objections to silly stuff in order to watch this show. (Imagine how perfect it would be to watch as a little kid, though--the stuff that adults grimace at is the same stuff that leaves kids in awe.)
Yay for geeky in jokes. "Passenger 57." "42" "Alonso!" That the guy was named "Alonso" was just awesome.
I love the way the show plays with Christian imagery. The evil angels killing people with halos and lifting the Doctor up to heaven. It's a Christmas episode! Maybe it's because I'm a former Catholic turned atheist who still has major issues with Christianity, but I love the way this show keeps the imagery of Christmas but subverts it into something disturbing (this year's angels, last year's murderous Christmas star). I mean, Christianity does have all kind of cool imagery, so why not put it into a Christmas special, disconnected from its original Christian connotations and remade into something new?
Kylie Minogue. I'm probably the only person on the planet who didn't know who she was until this episode, but uh, she can't act? I mean, she's not as dull as Martha; she's got a bit of charisma, at least. But she was pretty painful to watch. Part of that is the writing, though; the companion formula has gotten terribly predictable. Take one cute young(ish) woman, add boredom/discontent with her current life, throw in a desire for travel and adventure, and, oh yeah, make sure to show her caring for the wounded and less fortunate whenever the opportunity arises.
(I can't wait for Donna. I'm so pleased they broke the mold and cast someone different. It's like they're saying "we still have new stories to tell and aren't just going to repeat ourselves forever.")
There really wasn't enough to Astrid to justify the Doctor's falling for her so fast, but I'm going to assume that it's just because she reminded him of Rose. And it's funny how they keep hedging their bets with his sexuality; as usual, she kisses him while he stands there looking boggled, and then when he finally does kiss her, he already knows she's stardust. Commitment issues, much?
Although, speaking of commitment issues. What is with the whole "oh, it's so lonely traveling, and you end up with nothing, and wouldn't it be nice to settle down with a house and a garden" theme? Did I accidentally switch over to Queer as Folk US? "Oh, Brian, you have to settle down, you're going to die miserable and alone if you don't marry Justin and get a mortgage immediately!"
Did I mention how hot David Tennant was in this episode? Honestly, I can't really criticize a show that gives me 71 minutes of David Tennant in a tux, looking increasingly disheveled and brave and heartbroken.
Actually, what did surprise me was the body count. This was dark! I'm glad, because the show has been really formulaic: disaster strikes, the situation looks hopeless, the Doctor promises to save everyone, and despite all odds, he does! Or, at least, he saves everyone who "counts"; who really cares about Mr. Llewellyn or Lance or the random Red Shirts of the episode? I really like the theme that the Doctor is not a god, that he does not and should not be able to choose who lives and who dies, because the show was pretty much subtextually running that way up until now. I'm glad they called it out and changed it.
And I liked how they subverted both disaster movie cliches and their own traditions with who lives and who dies. I mean, imagine Speed if Sandra Bullock died and Keanu Reeves ended up saying goodbye to, like, random old guy bus survivor instead? And after two Christmas episodes of the Doctor bonding with a young(ish) woman, it was nice to see him bonding with someone totally different. (I've seen people whining at the double standard, that the Doctor only takes along cute women and won't take the old man, but it's obviously a different issue. In that moment, he wouldn't have taken anyone, because he felt that it was too dangerous, and he couldn't stand the thought of losing someone else. Poor Doctor is so emotionally needy, but knows that his mere presence puts people at risk, and keeps pushing people away because he doesn't want to face the pain of losing them. Maybe I should write that "why the Doctor is like Lymond" essay that's been percolating in my brain.)
I loved that the asshole guy survived, because that's how reality would be; good people die and awful people live and the awful people don't even necessarily learn lessons or get their comeuppance, either. I've heard people complaining that the minorities and women all died while the white men survived, but I don't have a problem there, because it was sad. It was really heartbreaking that the good and interesting people died; that was part of the point of the story. The misfits that the Doctor liked and related to were dead, and the total douchebag survived.
I was surprised that Astrid died. I mean, I knew obviously something was up when he agreed to take her on as a companion. But after the big celebrity casting and all the publicity and the fact that it was Christmas day, I still didn't expect them to send her to her death. Aren't the little kids going to be all traumatized? (I love that she died, because it means angst for the Doctor, and I love being surprised, so it's all good with me.)
There was an interesting theme related to money running through this episode. I guess Titanic stories usually do end up dealing with class as an issue. The couple who won their tickets being treated rudely; their major worries over the 5,000 credits contrasted with the asshole guy's arrogance; Astrid unable to afford the travel and adventure she wants out of life; the Doctor describing himself as penniless; the captain selling out the ship in order to get money for his family; the supervillain engineering the whole the whole thing out of bitterness over the failed corporation; the old guy getting his happy ending because of a million dollar credit card.
As usual, the rich characters were greedy and awful and the poor characters were salt of the earth good guy types (you should hear
drujan go on a rant about how mean J. K. Rowling is in portraying her rich characters as bad and her poor characters as good). And the contrast is between how not having money holds you back from things you want to do with your life (whether it's Astrid traveling or the old guy settling down) versus how those who have money take it for granted and let their greed run rampant. Definitely a theme of money corrupting people--the captain, the supervillain (sorry, he was so cheesy I didn't bother remembering his name)--so that it was weird how the happy ending for the old guy was, surprise, money!The supervillain. Doctor Evil! He was so Doctor Evil, wasn't he? I mean, I guess they were kind of going for James Bond villain, which is what Doctor Evil is a parody of, but man, he was cheesy. I'm going to assume purposely cheesy and just laugh it off, I suppose.
The fat jokes were annoying. What's with Russell T Davies and fat jokes? Honestly. I know he's writing for the child audience, but come on. There was some annoying story bits, too; I'm good at suspending disbelief, but it's a little much how, like, the guy who got shot seemed to recover so quickly, or how the angels thought the Doctor was the next highest authority even though he'd told them he was a stowaway... but, whatever, David Tennant in a tux pwns all.
Did I have any other thoughts? I don't know. Honestly, I loved it. David Tennant looked so good. I loved him telling everyone that he's a Time Lord, I loved him marching purposefully and looking heroic, I loved the angels carrying him up to the bridge, I loved how each person who died broke him a little bit more, I LOVED him freaking out over not being able to save Astrid. "I can do anything!"
He's such an optimist, and I love that he approaches every situation with the idea that he can fix everything and save everyone, but there's a deeper level to it, that deep down he knows he can't save everyone, that he's so hurt from everyone he's lost, which is what makes him try even harder, kind of this frantic desperate need to save people, not to lose anyone else. Last season ended with him not being able to save the Master, and I was a little worried that they'd try to fluff over that and make him bright and happy again, so I love that this episode kept that theme and only made it darker.
***
I brought seasons two and three home for Christmas, and between interminable amounts of cooking bad food (my mom insisted we make this dish which consists primarily of seitan and shiitake mushrooms in a dry red wine sauce, only we didn't have any seitan [we used tofu, bleh], had only dried shiitake mushrooms [double bleh] and only had a sweet red wine that made the whole thing even grosser), visiting with relatives whose names I can't remember, and sitting around staring blankly into the distance, I made my parents watch Doctor Who.
I use them as my "generic American audience study group" when I show them stuff. For the first time ever, my dad actually got into a show I brought home! (He would flee the room the instant I even mentioned Buffy, and he watched about ten minutes of a Sharpe movie while complaining the whole time about the fact that the French were the bad guys [I tried to explain that it's the Napoleonic wars and Sharpe's just trying to survive and anyway he ends up with a Frenchwoman, but Dad just hates... I dunno... everything.])
But! Dad liked it! And wanted to watch more! And asked me questions about it! Of course, he was asking questions about all the science stuff, but still. We had an actual conversation about where and when in history or the future we'd go, if we had a TARDIS. I showed them "The Christmas Invasion," "New Earth," "Tooth and Claw," "School Reunion," "The Girl in the Fireplace," "The Impossible Planet," "The Satan Pit," "Army of Ghosts," "Doomsday," "Utopia," "The Sound of Drums," and "Last of the Time Lords."
Dad actually had to leave before we got to "Last of the Time Lords" and he actually asked me what happened next and where he could see the next episode! I'll have to upload it for him or something.
Mom didn't get too into it. First of all, she kept complaining that she couldn't understand anything that was going on, and I thought that was because of the technobabble, but no, she literally couldn't understand them. My mom is one of the dumb Americans that John Oliver on BBC America tells to turn on the subtitles! So I had to turn on the subtitles so that she could understand the wacky British accents. *headdesk*
Watching with my parents made me appreciate the importance of a character like Jackie. When I was watching it with
jaydk it was like, why is this character here taking up space that could be used by a more interesting character? But my mom seemed to find her a relatable point of entry to the wacky sci-fi world. (And my Dad seemed to like the Doctor's logical science-oriented approach to everything. Every time Dad would start to ask some persnickety question about the logic of it all, the Doctor would ask the same thing.)Mom compared the Doctor to Peter Pan in "The Girl in the Fireplace," which, yeah, totally. She kind of gets it. I think she was turned off by how relentlessly goofy he is in season two; that struck me too, how goofy he is in that season compared to later on. He really changes so much once Rose is gone. (And I like him goofy, but I like him angsty even better.)
Mom cried during "Doomsday," though! She started out just going on about how silly the show was (they compared it to The Adventures of Brisco County Jr) and I think it really surprised them how emotionally intense it got. (Well, Mom. Dad doesn't get emotionally involved in anything.)
So we jumped straight ahead to "Utopia" after "Doomsday" because I wanted the show them the Master. He is so awesome. My mom was laughing at a lot of the goofy stuff he does, while going "This show is so weird." Well, yeah, but isn't the Master awesome? Mom kept staring blankly at me every time I said that.
After we finished I asked Mom whether she preferred Martha or Rose and she just looked at me like I was a moron.
Me: "What?"
Mom: *continues to stare at me like I'm insane*
Me: "You like Rose better?"
Mom: "Well, obviously!"
Me: "Why?"
Mom: "Well, because she's fun and full of joy and relatable and... she just loves life!"
Me: "And Martha has all of time and space and instead she just mopes around whining that the Doctor doesn't love her?"
Mom: "Exactly."
Me: "You know people on the internet get into like, battles to the death over which one they like better."
Mom: *more staring at me like I'm insane*
Me: Of course, I like the Master best of all.
Mom: *obviously too much for her*
***
I'm doing this Doctor Who thing all out of order, aren't I? I finally saw the end of season one last week.
jaydk had me over Thursday night for our annual exchanging of gifts (she got me so much good stuff! two Harry Potter DVDs, and Dorothy Dunnett's King Hereafter, and a Doctor Who book by Graeme Harper that I read on the airplane! but I got her Casanova starring David Tennant, and a "Vote Saxon" t-shirt, and some old Doctor Who episode that she wanted, so it almost evens out). Anyway. We had a lot of fun and I finally got to see the end of season one.My main thoughts were:
* I like Jack a lot more now that I know where he comes from. It's cool to see a much younger and less experienced version of him; he's a lot more hardened now. I'd only seen one version and now he has more dimensions since I've seen how he's developed. (Maybe I will end up watching Torchwood.) Aww, and his goodbye kiss with the Doctor was so wonderful!
* Rose! I really love Rose. I already liked her in season two, but after seeing season one I have a huge appreciation for the character's journey and for the actress. I'm glad, because I so rarely like female characters, and it's not because I'm secretly a self-hating misogynist, it's because female characters are usually written poorly or are written with personality traits and priorities that I don't relate to or are played by actresses clearly cast for their looks and not their acting skills. But Rose loves life, and adventure, and traveling, and her "normal world" and "normal life" aren't enough for her, and the character is flawed and three dimensional and interesting, and the actress is actually really good. I like her!
* It was so sad when Nine regenerated. Except that he turned into David Tennant, so, y'know, I can't really be that sad. I don't think I'll be able to watch the show anymore after David Tennant leaves, though. I liked Eccleston, but really I was just waiting for Tennant to show up.
* The final three episodes were written so well! I was very impressed with the writing of season one, and it just seemed to get better throughout the season. The fact that this show is written so well just continues to impress me. I love that they have an idea of the end when they start the season, so that they're able to weave clues and themes throughout. It's such a nice contrast from the American shows I've watched where you really can just tell that they're making it up as they go and have no clue where they'll end up or what they're trying to say.
***
I'm happy because I have a whole bunch of shows to watch. I'm still only on episode five of Life on Mars, so I get to finish the first season and watch the whole second season. Then there's season one of Torchwood, and I'll be able to watch season two in real time if I decide to. Oh, and I've been saving up the new Robin Hood as it airs, although I haven't watched it yet, so I'll be able to watch its whole second season in one go (I'm all about Guy of Gisborne). And then Doctor Who starts up again in the spring. (I think I should just move to England.)
Oh, and the Daily Show and Colbert Report start up again in January. I'm still feeling a little iffy about that, since I support the strike, but I know there's no way I'll be able to resist Colbert. ;)
Real life continues to suck, but thank god 2007 is over. I so hope that 2008 will be better. I'll finally have vacation days again! I'm going to London and I'm going to see David Tennant in Hamlet! (I'm putting all my Christmas money into a "London fund"; maybe by the time October arrives I'll actually be able to afford to go there. Damn exchange rate.) What else? I haven't seen Sweeney Todd yet. There's a new Christian Bale Batman and isn't Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man coming out this year? And a new Harry Potter movie! Who needs real life when you've got fandom? Good stuff to look forward to. 2008. Yay.
[Cross-posted to InsaneJournal]
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-26 07:29 pm (UTC)I didn't really know who Kylie was until I heard about her being in this ep. But as an American who doesn't listen to the radio, I probably have a good excuse.
I've also been watching DW eps with my parents. My mom has totally fallen in love with Jack.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-26 10:04 pm (UTC)I tried to explain Jack to my mom, and, *sigh*. And I was all excited about the Doctor/Master subtext and she just stared at me blankly. I guess there are some things that Midwestern moms will never get.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-27 12:36 am (UTC)Best thing to do is just stick to the squee. It has served me well.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-26 09:46 pm (UTC)See, I didn't think he fell for her at all. I think he saw a kindred spirit who wanted to travel, to see things. And then he felt responsible for her. When he kissed her goodbye, he knew she was dust, but again, I saw that as giving her one last thing she would like because he knew he couldn't save her.
Overall though, I really enjoyed the special and Boo watched it with me. When you said there were parts that were cringe-worthy for adults, but exciting for children, you were right. Boo just thought it was the greatest thing ever. Of course, he's watching for the colors and the action, not the dialog. :)
I really need it be March right now.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-26 09:54 pm (UTC)I didn't think he fell for her at all.
Yeah, I didn't really think he fell for her romantically, although the potential was there and it might've gone somewhere if she'd lived. But she was the person he'd most connected with, and he was far more focused on her than he was on anyone else. (And he was already getting all excited about the possibility of traveling with her.)
So, yeah, I just meant that they wrung a whole lot of emotion out of him losing someone he'd just met, and I don't really think she as a character had earned it. She had some nice qualities, but mainly she reminded him of other people he'd loved and lost, which is why he became attached to her so quickly and was so upset at losing her.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-12-28 01:18 am (UTC)It is an awesome book, and in my humble opinion, perhaps the best thing Dorothy ever wrote. The research she must have done simply boggles the mind, and the result is stunningly believable and moving and don't give up even if you have to read the book three times before it all starts to come together in your head. (That's what I had to do.)
Also, I believe there was some speculation a while back about someone possibly publishing Lady Dunnett's theories about MacBeth/Thorfinn, and I hope it happens - I'd love to read more about a period that evidently wasn't as "Dark" as we've been led to believe.
Oh, and happy reading! ;)