They killed Rory ... AGAIN!?

Cold Blood was a not bad Sillurian 2 parter, well, the only thing we could have asked for was a good plot, but according to this week's Guardian comments people seem to care less about that aspect as they used to. There was some tension, some weird set of sci-fi rules, some relatives of an "old" alien species, a nice in-between human story (actually there were two of them) and the Doctor more or less saved the day (again). Still, I cant' help thinking that the connection between these parts could have been a bit better.

However, it is very likely that we don't care much about the actual story anyway, because just after we started thinking that now they will be dashing off toward a new exciting place (or Rio), the crack reappears and Rory sacrifices his life for the Doctor and gets consumed by 'the light' and his own fiancée can't remember him anymore (some sort of a Donna-deja-vu, anyone?). Furthermore, as if this would not have been enough, the crack also seems to destroy the Doctor's TARDIS in the future.
Obviously, all these finale-teasers had to steal the Sillurians the show.

Now, I won't write about how complicated (and stereotypical) the Human-Sillurian relationship was in the first place, even without Ambrose killing Ayela out of a weird form of mother-love. Or what Chris Chibnall's idea was when writing it's human germs keeping the Doctor alive, because when looking at it form a biological point of view, also humans need germs to stay alive, so they could not have done the same with them either. And I definitely won't ask myself why the Doctor could pick that TARDIS-bit out of the crack without the light having an effect on him, while Rory was forgotten before the light/the crack even consumed him completely.

Because thanks to Moffat there are a bit more interesting things to write about.

So let's start with those famous last five minute which start with Rory's death.
I'm sure that an average fan must have liked him for giving us another (a more 'down-to-earth') perspective of the happenings. Sure, generally, he was not very heroic, still, he also knew how to shine, how to appeal to a/our human common sense, but not in a boring way. Somehow he was a bit of the counterpart of the Doctor. And that's why he was so likeable.
Additionally, many (traditional) fans were glad about him being some sort of a grantee that we won't have to sit through another 'season 2' storyline.

Still, despite Moffat apparently having something against him (all in all it was him who wasn't against killing Rory three times within only one season!), there is a chance that Amy gets the opportunity to live her life with Rory, because of the simple reason that the Doctor won't allow anything, no matter how terrifying it might be, to harm his beloved TARDIS. For this, he will find a way to get the crack-story-arch fixed (I just didn't feel like calling it a 'crack-problem') and through this maybe Amy and Rory will be reunited in the future.

And next week Vincent Van Gogh will see Amy and the Doctor, and I guess he is also in desperate need of one.

Happy Towelday

To my mind it is good to have a day reminding us of the importance of towels. So dear froods, don't forget yours, especially not today.

The Differences between Cwmtaff and Rio....

... should be definitely made more obvious.

This is not a proper review for Hungry Earth because I think what Chris Chibnall did was only stretching the usual 5 minute intro of an average Doctor Who story to a sometimes not pretty fast going nor really interesting episode. If you want me to say something positive about it, I absolutely liked the costume of the Sillurians. And I loved the Doctor's meringue comment. Good for him that preparing decent desserts is not an obligatory skill to save the universe .
Anyway, all in all this was an interesting 45 minute opener for part 2. So let's wait and see.

Because if this is real life, I don't want it.

Oh my dear. Who wasn't shivering when Amy said those words to a not quite so sure Doctor. I wouldn't go so far to state that Amy's Choice (link) was the best Doctor Who episode ever, or of this season (although, giving it another thought...) But it was good, deep and emotional AND the low budget one of this season. If saving money looks this good, then I don't know Moffat's problem. (Ok, I know due to the Beeb not being too gorgeous this year he is saving the biggest part of the budget for... guess.)

I have to admit, last week after watching its trailer I didn't know where to put it. To be honest I thought it were only a good script and a story bringing those three to their limits which could save that one. However, without exaggerating, that's exactly what Simon Nye did. It seems to me as if he hadn't done anything else but thinking about the perfect Doctor Who episode, and actually, that's what Amy's Choice manages to be: perfect (although not in a "Gallifrey-ish" way if you know what I mean*.)

First, letting the Doctor's dark side to be the "Dream-Lord" was a hilarious idea, which worked on quite a few levels. It helped settling the whole love part, finally. Then, well, we were always aware of the Doctor having a reason for being a bit, ehm, difficult when it comes to his past, but his line "No idea how you can be here, but there's only one person in the universe who hates me as much as you do." was quite revealing. It was also awesome that there wasn't one "real" world, in fact that would have been cheap. And there aren't many episodes where the Doctor gets the chance and also would blow up the TARDIS.

Still, Amy's Choice didn't only work with the big bits. For a start, the Doctor seems to have his very own definition of nightmare. And I smiled when he admits that he threw the TARDIS' manual into a supernova because he disagreed with it (we all know situations like that), or all the moments when everyone is teasing him for his appearance (and bow ties ARE cool BTW.) But then again, we could go on about every, really every sentence the Doctor says to work things out.

Alright, my conclusion of all that is if this was a low budget episode, then first, I hope Simon Nye won't give up on writing for this show after all (yes, I DO know what he said) and secondly, Chris Chibnall, who is in charge for The Hungry Earth 2-parter, will have a though job, or at least pretty high expectations to live up to.

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*Just watch Planet of the Dead, Gridlock, or another s3 episode in which the Doctor is talking about his "perfect" home planet.

Got my Spaceship, Got my Boys...

... Well, the Doctor maybe doesn't agree with her that much about whose TARDIS she travels in...

To be frank, this is my 2nd version of this review. The first's title went something like "Is it just me thinking this was... stupid", because Vampires of Venice had a bit too many not necessary scenes and elements of former episodes in it (more about this in a moment). But after noticing that SFX's review writer gave it 4 stars (out of 5) through what it ended up having the same rating as Flesh and Stone which was magnificent IMHO, I started wondering whether we are trying to write about the same episode... Because of this I re-watched it today (those who are still searching desperately for a link as YouTube is having some issues with the BBC: here it is) And I have to say I changed my opinion about it... a bit.

Alright then, let's start with the very obvious bad things about Vampires of Venice. For a start, what was the scene with the Doctor being electroshocked all about? Those fish-aliens weren't exactly electric eels, so how did they do that in the first place? Talking about the Saturnynians. Right after watching it I couldn't help myself thinking that somehow the whole concept (apparently human beings turn out to be deadly man-killing aliens) looked like a remake of School Reunion, so I wasn't surprised to find out that it was Toby Whithouse, known for being the writer of the said episode, being also in charge for this one. However, interestingly enough he didn't only add a few things out of his own episode, but I bet it was not only me thinking that this wasn't the first time we saw the Doctor climbing to the top of a tower while it's storming around him (Daleks in Manhattan 2-parter, anyone?). Furthermore, having some recently really overused vampires in a show like this for the 2nd time (old Who) doesn't show of having too much creativity.

Nevertheless, it wouldn't be fair not to mention Vampires of Venice's good parts. I can't deny that some scenes were just fun, or let's say, they were so out of place that they managed to "be in place" after all. Who didn't smile about Rory discussing Amy kissing the Doctor while they are going through pitch black catacombs and there might be other things to have on their minds. Or his attempt of fighting with Francesco just to impress his fiancée? Further, seeing the Doctor showing his old (and by this I mean really old) library card instead of the psychic paper was just a laugh. And I really loved the scene where the Doctor is disappointed by Rory not saying "It's bigger on the inside". I almost felt a bit sorry for him... Additionally, some of those dialogues, especially the Doctor's (which were rather monologues though) were really cleverly done and I dare to say they were the best bits of the whole episode in general. Although I bet tomorrow there will be people complaining about the whole "love/getting married/children" references. Well, I as an adult fan think that today's children are used to worse stuff than this.

So overall, what we got was a well written but still a bit "recycled" episode with a few potholes which managed to look like a big portion of fun, somehow.

Time Can Be Rewritten...

So that's how Moffat deals with the very ambiguous past of Doctor Who: by inventing a crack in time which absorbs and un-writes history. We are used to a few things but I'm sure not each further main editor will get away this easily with this series' more than just difficult "heritage".

Anyway. All in all I think 'Flesh And Stone' as such doesn't live up to Time of the Angles' quality, but if we watch it as a single episode the result is far from being disappointing. Especially because we can put a few more things on our River-speculation list. And as this is the most interesting part of the whole episode anyway, I hope you'll forgive me for skipping the other bits.

First things first. A question. What is scarier than the weeping Angels or a crack in the universe tearing reality apart? River. Maybe. Now we know that River is in prison for murder; she has killed the best man she ever knew who is maybe the same one who has taught her flying the TARDIS. But while I'm quite sure that the latter one has to be the Doctor I just can't imagine that she has killed him, at least not on purpose. Then again, if she killed him the whole Silence in the Library - stuff would get another completely new and deep meaning, and we know that's exactly what Moffat is fond of. Still, I think Moffat's big picture is surely not River killing the Doctor. Come on, the Big Moff loves fooling us. But then again, no matter whether she did it or not, to quote the Doctor: history can be rewritten so Moffat doesn't need to stick to his own 'fairy tale'-ly rules (in my humble opinion, he starts to gain too much power.) I for my part am looking forward to the next time River will show up.

Further I like how Moffat manges to add a Silence in the Library reference to the plot. River's "You, me, handcuffs... must it always end this way?" was more than just a hint to her own death. I have to admit maybe it is not only sheer coincidence that that scene is there. It could be a reference to 11th death after all, but I have still a few doubts.

Oh, and before I forget it, especially as the official reviews and their comments will be full of it: first, Amy, you bad girl. Loved the Doctor's reaction though. That's exactly what we expected and waited for... for 3 years.

And 2nd, I can't help thinking that we were actually supposed to notice the Doctor wearing his 'lost' jacket and a different watch in the 'you must remember' scene. Come on, they made him wearing a different wristwatch, that's like adding flashing lights and a 'This is IMPORTANT'-sign to it, and yes, the 'important' standing in capital letters.

So next week Rory joins the team and they are going to Venice. No idea how that should help fixing the crack but although I think there are too many vampires on TV ATM, just watching Rory and Amy dealing with each other and/or with the Doctor has the potential of making the story more interesting than it might appear to be at first sight.