Doctor Who review and some icons for you
Apr. 18th, 2010 01:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
auntiemeeshI resisted, but I suppose I was always going to give in and get an Eleventh Doctor icon. I'm not exactly in love with this one, but until something better comes along, it will have to do.
Last week, I waited until I'd read lots of other reaction posts before formulating my own thoughts. This week, I'm being lazy. I don't have a ton of thoughts on this episode but what I do have, I'll share.
I've never been a huge fan of the Dalek episodes. Especially the new ones. Mainly, I think, because each time, the Doctor seemingly destroys the very last remnants of the Daleks, only to come back a few weeks later and find that a few more had escaped through some crack somewhere. It grew very tiresome very quickly. Having said that, I liked this Dalek episode a lot (much like the season one episode 'Dalek').
What I liked:
*The army Daleks. "We. Are. Your. Soldiers." There was just something oddly cute about them, as if they were Dalek children dressed up for Halloween as WWII combatants.
*And even more so, the new, rainbow colored Daleks. They're big and buff, but they also look like they're candy coated.
*I always enjoy seeing the Doctor lose his cool, and nothing drives him round the bend like an unexpected encounter with the Daleks. His giant 'acknowledge me as your number one enemy' temper tantrum here was hilarious. Perhaps a little less impactful for having been done before and done better, by Christopher Eccleston (the emotion behind that rant was a little different, but more powerful, at least for me), but still fun to watch.
*The deviousness of this particular batch of Daleks. Pretending to be nothing more than useful robotic servants until the Doctor gave them exactly what they needed in his big giant rant of 'Pay Attention to ME!' was impressive, considering their obsessive need to destroy all those irrational humans.
*The Doctor holding them at bay with nothing more than a Jammie Dodgers biscuit, and then whining about being promised tea when it ultimately fails to impress the Daleks.
ETA: Oh, I forgot, Amy's Dalek amnesia. I think this has lots of potential for a season long mystery, only perhaps a little more subtle than the ever-reappearing crack. My guess is the two things are totally related. Perhaps things are falling through the crack, yes? Parts of history getting lost. I doubt it's just Amy who doesn't remember the Daleks. So then, my question is, does this crack create an alternate version of Earth, one where the Dalek invasion never happened, or does it just somehow erase the memory of events from people. Or are the two things completely separate?
Things I didn't like:
*Gravity bubbles. They have ten minutes before the Germans show up and in that time they decide to implement Dr. Whosit's gravity bubbles. Okay, sorry. Even with the theoretical construct of the gravity bubbles in existence, it would still take days or weeks (if not months) to make them an actual, practical application. You can't just say, "I have this theoretical construct," and then have a physical version of it up and running within five minutes. You just can't. Come up with a better plan, writers.
Things I was 'meh' about:
*I can go along with Dr. Whosit's (I'm sorry, I'm too lazy to go find his name) power source being something capable of massive destruction. He was made by the Daleks, after all. The Doctor and Amy being able to disarm the bomb by making Dr. Whosit feel his humanity, meh. That one just felt like the writers were trying too hard to make some meta statement about the meaning of humanity, etc. It saved the day, so whatever, I guess.
And because I loved the candy-coated Daleks so much, I had to make some icons. And then it occured to me that these icons might be a bit spoilery for a major plot-point, so I can't actually use any of them. I don't usually make icons and I don't know the etiquette involved here. How long do I have to wait before I can use spoilery icons? Anyway, here they are, all variations on a theme (trial and error till I found one I liked, but I'll share them all). If you see something you like, feel free to take it.
1.
2. 
3. 
4. 
Last week, I waited until I'd read lots of other reaction posts before formulating my own thoughts. This week, I'm being lazy. I don't have a ton of thoughts on this episode but what I do have, I'll share.
I've never been a huge fan of the Dalek episodes. Especially the new ones. Mainly, I think, because each time, the Doctor seemingly destroys the very last remnants of the Daleks, only to come back a few weeks later and find that a few more had escaped through some crack somewhere. It grew very tiresome very quickly. Having said that, I liked this Dalek episode a lot (much like the season one episode 'Dalek').
What I liked:
*The army Daleks. "We. Are. Your. Soldiers." There was just something oddly cute about them, as if they were Dalek children dressed up for Halloween as WWII combatants.
*And even more so, the new, rainbow colored Daleks. They're big and buff, but they also look like they're candy coated.
*I always enjoy seeing the Doctor lose his cool, and nothing drives him round the bend like an unexpected encounter with the Daleks. His giant 'acknowledge me as your number one enemy' temper tantrum here was hilarious. Perhaps a little less impactful for having been done before and done better, by Christopher Eccleston (the emotion behind that rant was a little different, but more powerful, at least for me), but still fun to watch.
*The deviousness of this particular batch of Daleks. Pretending to be nothing more than useful robotic servants until the Doctor gave them exactly what they needed in his big giant rant of 'Pay Attention to ME!' was impressive, considering their obsessive need to destroy all those irrational humans.
*The Doctor holding them at bay with nothing more than a Jammie Dodgers biscuit, and then whining about being promised tea when it ultimately fails to impress the Daleks.
ETA: Oh, I forgot, Amy's Dalek amnesia. I think this has lots of potential for a season long mystery, only perhaps a little more subtle than the ever-reappearing crack. My guess is the two things are totally related. Perhaps things are falling through the crack, yes? Parts of history getting lost. I doubt it's just Amy who doesn't remember the Daleks. So then, my question is, does this crack create an alternate version of Earth, one where the Dalek invasion never happened, or does it just somehow erase the memory of events from people. Or are the two things completely separate?
Things I didn't like:
*Gravity bubbles. They have ten minutes before the Germans show up and in that time they decide to implement Dr. Whosit's gravity bubbles. Okay, sorry. Even with the theoretical construct of the gravity bubbles in existence, it would still take days or weeks (if not months) to make them an actual, practical application. You can't just say, "I have this theoretical construct," and then have a physical version of it up and running within five minutes. You just can't. Come up with a better plan, writers.
Things I was 'meh' about:
*I can go along with Dr. Whosit's (I'm sorry, I'm too lazy to go find his name) power source being something capable of massive destruction. He was made by the Daleks, after all. The Doctor and Amy being able to disarm the bomb by making Dr. Whosit feel his humanity, meh. That one just felt like the writers were trying too hard to make some meta statement about the meaning of humanity, etc. It saved the day, so whatever, I guess.
And because I loved the candy-coated Daleks so much, I had to make some icons. And then it occured to me that these icons might be a bit spoilery for a major plot-point, so I can't actually use any of them. I don't usually make icons and I don't know the etiquette involved here. How long do I have to wait before I can use spoilery icons? Anyway, here they are, all variations on a theme (trial and error till I found one I liked, but I'll share them all). If you see something you like, feel free to take it.
1.
2. 
3. 
4. 
no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 06:18 pm (UTC)I was very meh about the "remember your humanity" bit at the end. It looked like the Doctor knew what he was talking about, almost explained why it would work (something about human emotion overloading a positronic matrix?)-- they could have sacrificed a bit of the drawn-out ending to explain that scene a bit better.
I loved the doctor's reaction to punching out the professor (Bracewell was his name). Kind of John Crichton-esque, like "OW, that hurt!" ha!
no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 06:50 pm (UTC)This thought has just led me on an odd little side-track about the Doctor and physical violence, who he's content to destroy thoroughly (Daleks, Cybermen, random utterly non-humanoid alien enemies), who he'll protect against all reason (the Master) and his general disapproval of guns and things. He's a complicated personality, is our Doctor.
no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 07:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-04-18 08:10 pm (UTC)