Although not the best episode of New Who ever, the Doctor came back pretty strongly, much stronger than I for one expected. So let's see where he goes next...

A big part of the reason The Rings Of Akhaten was so good was because of the sense of escapism, of adventure. Although it deals with heavy topics like religion and sacrifice, with an alien twist of course, the episode never loses focus of the fact that this is Clara's first proper voyage. The Doctor is brimming with joy to show Clara the wonders of all of time and space and his excitement is just infectious. I really did feel Clara's wonder, I really did feel the Doctor's joy at Clara's wonder, it was just so beautifully constructed that I felt like I was on the trip with them, caught in the energetic Doctor whirlwind.

What also helps is an actual, direct villain. There is a late twist which is written rather clumsily but that aside the Doctor has enemies to confront directly and epically but still in a very Doctor Who feeling way. The villain just feels much more focused than it did last week, which was just a pile of half baked concepts. Plus the villains looked fantastic and rather scary as well with the final villain being absolutely incredible.

And perhaps the most important thing is no bullshit. I like setup establishing moments in a narrative but I find most TV shows take the piss. They take a mystery, get us interested and then stretch it out as far as they physically can until I am literally screaming, 'get the fuck on with it'. When the Doctor licked the leaf, I didn't even bother mentioning it because I assumed it'd do the classic plotting of dropping it from the story entirely for about twenty episodes, aside from odd scenes here and there, to finally reveal it again when the audience is long since beyond caring. What does Who do instead? Last week 'oh this leaf is weird' this week 'here is why the leaf is important'. Thank you! This is how you plot and pace, I wish others were as direct as you are.

I have to say I quite enjoyed Clara as well this week. I won't lie about how much I hate what Clara does to the Doctor, the Doctor isn't supposed to be a creepy, lovestruck stalker although it isn't the first time nor will it be the last time that the Doctor chases ghosts. But I just found her written so well this week, I liked how alien she felt in the alien world. I know that sounds really obvious but ironically I think that is something a lot of sci-fi gets wrong, it makes everyone feel too comfortable in the most alien of surroundings. Here however she felt out of place and of course she should do. Plus she conveyed a sense of wonder that was truly believable as well, so we could share her wide-eyed gasp inducing moments with her. And with her dramatically saving the day by the end, I'm really looking forward to where her character goes next.

Doctor Who has always relied on a fair amount of bullshit, plot convenience powers and deus ex machina but I kind of love how that still remains, especially in the kind of world we live in today. The Doctor didn't overcome his enemy with weapons, or magic or whatever else (unless we want to stretch the Sonic Screwdriver as much as the writers do) but it still never gets to the point of a CGI heavy, explosionfest. In the end the day was won with words, a leaf and love. Corny? Certainly. A bit silly? I'd say very. But it's sad that such an action muted but emotionally high climax feels so alien to us, that it gets slammed so hard by critics simply because it isn't a big battle sequence. And so in turn I really do admire the balls of the show as the critics demand action and still Doctor Who chooses emotion. Of course it's all about the money, it's about whoring yourself to the audience to make the most money but little glimpses, like the climax of the episode, gave a real sense that Doctor Who has a clear sense of identity as a show and there are limits to how far it will degrade itself before it decides to do its own thing no matter who complains. Rock on.

Pros;
- The epic, almost cinematic, feel to it all.
- It's so human.
- Chooses emotion over action.
- It felt like an adventure, like I was on the trip with them and with all the stress in my life at the minute, it was an enjoyable holiday.
- The Doctor and Clara were great this week.
- Incredible visuals.
- Good villains.
- No bullshit.
- A child actress who isn't shit.
- A truly epic climax.
Cons;
- There is nothing particularly original here.
- The whole alarm clock twist thing was pretty awful.
- I really don't like what the Doctor is becoming because of Clara, stalker Doctor, really?
Think About It!
-Locke
2 comments:
Your thoughts on what Clara is "making the Doctor become" are freaking me out to be quite honest.
It doesn't matter if Clara is sexy and mysterious, there's no excuse for not respecting boundaries. It's not Clara's fault at all. It's the Doctor who is acting this way.
A pretty heavy debate I didn't intend to drop myself in!
Not saying it's the poor girls fault, as such, but the Doctor hasn't been quite like this with someone before.
Post a Comment