A few thoughts on Doctor Who season 5

[mollyringle]

On the whole: writing and creativity: full marks! Big hurrah for Steven Moffat being ushered in full-time and Russell T. Davies being somewhere else entirely. Minimal Daleks and Cybermen; that was good too.

Rory! You will not dis Rory in my presence. Sure, the 11/Amy chemistry was tasty and quite amusing, but I didn't get the impression the Doctor honestly wanted her--he treated her like his granddaughter. So I'm ultimately all about the Rory/Amy. And that said, the season finale, well-- two thousand years?? He waited two thousand years?? No. Nobody could. Impossible. You'd go nuts. You'd get destroyed. You'd forget what the hell you were supposed to be doing. However, maybe being part plastic helped him through all that, and the absurdly grandiose gesture does put him high on the list of world's best boyfriends.

So, we're left mostly with the River Song storyline as the big mystery next to be tackled. And as to River...I don't know. Her plotline is certainly intriguing, but I don't exactly feel fond of her. I don't hate her, either. I could just...take or leave her. And it feels like they're writing her with this notion of "OMG, she's so cool, the fans will love her," rather than giving us a reason to love her. Hrm. Oh well. Still looking forward to next season.

Comments

[sopdetly.livejournal.com]

This is the show I really wanted ever since I started with Nine. I doubt very much it's a coincidence that my favorite eps of the RTD years were Moffat's eps. :P

I think part of the thing about River is that the Doctor doesn't even know yet why she's in his life. We can't know why we're supposed to love her because we're seeing her in the wrong order. Spoilers and all that. It's a really fascinating (and risky, as there are many who flat out despise her!) way to craft a character, and therein lies the beauty of the entire story concept, because it allows you to try things in ways you never could before. And the Moff gets it! ♥ ♥ ♥

THREE MORE WEEKS UNTIL SEASON 6!!!

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

My favorites of previous seasons were Moffat's too! "The Girl in the Fireplace," "Blink,"...ah, genius and charm throughout.

Indeed, it's at least an interesting way to introduce a character. And at least with this show and this writer (and Neil Gaiman being brought on board too!), we can be sure they've actually thought it out ahead of time and will come up with a cool ride for us. If nothing else, it'll be charming.

[wandererrob.livejournal.com]

I like River, but I agree with your overall assessment. It's like they are just *trying* to add a whole new storyline so they can get some episodes out of it. I'm on the fence about the overall development of the story.

I must say, I'm not 100% sold on the current Doctor though. All I keep seeing is George McFly. Chris Eccleson reminded me a lot of Tom Baker (my favorite Doctor, and the one I grew up with.) and David Tennant built on that while adding an excellent bit of quirkiness that I loved. I felt like David Tennant's Doctor grew out of the previous one, as if retaining parts of the personality. Whereas, this Doctor... It's just a completely different version that doesn't quite sit right in my mind.

Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the show quite a lot. And Amy, the Scottish redhead (oh my!), I adore her. But the current show as a whole isn't quite as good as the previous few seasons.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

George McFly--hee! He does look like Crispin Glover, who I also like. But Crispin's a lot eerier, while Matt strikes me as almost entirely goofy charm. Still, I know what you mean about him being almost a new version altogether, as if 9 and 10 didn't happen. Then again, I'm happy enough to let all that Rose/Ten angst finally drop and just reboot the series, so to speak. Even though I liked the Rose/Ten angst when it was underway.

Amy's awesome. Hasn't annoyed me yet, which is a feat in a companion. :D

[girlspell.livejournal.com]

I like Amy/R0ry. I like the twist and way they introduced Rory. The beginning was misleading. I thought the doctor and Amy would be a couple. But I liked the way the situation settled. As for River...meh. I can take her or leave her. It started out rather interesting. But then she kind of bored me.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

I'm happy to let fanfic tackle the Amy/11 question, as I'm sure it has by now. ;) Hopefully next season's writing will give us some cool episodes involving River and the rest. I hear Craig from "The Lodger" is coming back! Yay!

[modmerseygirl.livejournal.com]

Aww! The fifth season was awesome. I love Rory, too. :-)

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was almost silly, the whole "Amy's Choice" deal. Of *course* she'd choose Rory. We all knew that. :)

[(Anonymous)]

Trailer for season six is on Youtube if you're curious.

[wildecate.livejournal.com]

Amy irritates the crap out of me. I quite like the idea of 11/Donna. And I love Rory too :-)

Yeah.... River Song.... hmmm. She was much more likeable when she interacted with 10. I find her current arrogance with 11 quite a turn off and I'm about 75% sure that 11 also finds her irritating at the moment but is patient, knowing that she will be something precious to him.... just not right now.

I love 11, I think even more possibly than I loved 10 but I think that's got something to do with 10 becoming too emo (which was something I found tiring about 9) and 11 is so full of joy and energy and curiousity but his anger when it comes is awesome.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, as you said early on about 11, he's good at coming across as alien (unlike 10), while still being warm and likable. (And cute, which never hurts.)

I've wondered if they might break the tradition of a young straight female companion one of these seasons, and branch out. Using a newlywed couple, as they seem to be doing next, is a start. A middle-aged lesbian might be nice, or a gay man, or anyone of older years. Fun to imagine, anyway. :)

[gavinworld.livejournal.com]

I wasn't sure what I thought about River for a while, but the opening sequence of "The Time of Angels" made me like her and admire her panache and style.

[mollyringle.livejournal.com]

Yeah, so far I can't dislike her; she does at least intrigue me. She's a little like Captain Jack in some ways--the panache, the flirtiness, the not-entirely-truthfulness. :)