The Doctor and Vincent
Jun. 5th, 2010 07:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethHrm. First thought: while this felt very much like 'things you'd do with a time machine' it didn't feel very much like 'The Doctor has Adventures in Time And Space'. I don't know what was missing but it was like when you get cakes where you can taste the ingredients and they stick to the paper. Only almost right.
As for all the rest... I am very glad it didn't turn into 'the Doctor magic fixes depression', or even what I thought was going to happen when the Doctor too Vincent in the TARDIS, which is that last really prolific year turning out to be a whole bunch of years of time travel getting dropped off at once. The former would be depressing as hell because of the way it's not right, and the latter would sort of devalue the actual human achievement, and they avoided both of those.
I'm less keen on the thing where the mad man turned out to be seeing true things. The trouble there is it makes perfect sense for the *Artist* to be seeing more than his neighbours, but it's a horrible clunky overused trope to have the not-crazy-crazy-person. When people see things nobody around them see, especially when they react violently to their personal perception, it's usually not because they've got the super special insight. It bothers me. A lot.
It also bothers me that they didn't mention treatment options at all. Because they did time travel to where there, well, weren't any. And Amy wouldn't have suggested anything because she thought showing him the future would fix everything. Except Amy wasn't thinking of that, which was a bit sad because why isn't she thinking of cool things that bend the laws of time too? But anyway. There's just, here, depression happens, it sucks, and the Doctor can't fix it. With no mention of the here-now medical-pshrinks that could have a go. With however mixed results. I know the time travel story has the ending stay the same, but the depression side of the story makes it a nasty little box to leave him in.
The Doctor's speech to Amy about how they added to the store of good things even if that didn't blunt the bad things... it's true enough and a good speech, but... it's part of why it didn't feel very Doctor Who. Sometimes he fixes things better.
Making the alien all violent and silent and turning out to be blind and afraid and misunderstood... I don't even know what to do with that bit. It was only killing on accident? It was only killing because it was blind? And oh yes, the *Doctor* comes up with that 'blind=superhearing' trope. Oh dear. Compensatory superpowers in the misunderstood villain... *sigh*
There were lots of bits I liked, but then there were lots of bits that made me feel a bit like when the first plate falls off a tilting stack, like it's only a small oops right then but add it to all the others just exactly like it and CRAAAAAAASH.
So it felt a bit off.
Mixed with goodness.
Okay, I give up, I'll evaluate later.
Other bits...
Oh, I didn't like Vincent magic knowing that Amy had lost someone when even Amy didn't know it. That was odd.
I feel like Amy's 4 psychiatrists could have been a Thing here, could be part of a theme, or could have given her something useful to say.
Oh, that was it, that was what was most missing, Amy was just along for the ride in this one, just there to watch. Yeah, she decided to buy him some wine, but the Doctor had just decided that too, so it don't work. She just watched and looked and got compliments based on her appearance and then got compliments based on stuff he couldn't have known. She felt less there than she should be, though her reaction at the end was important to the story. When her main function is catalysis and she's the one to stand and watch or be outside in the dark screaming... not quite right, no.
The Doctor's many faces again. And people with two heads. Someone has a Thing.
We've had the Doctors starting with 1 referenced 3 times now, the first episodes, this identification sequence, and more tenuously the library card. It might just be a cute continuity thing but I can think of more fun things to do with it, especially now with the crack swallowing time. Right now he's known... what happens if the universe forgets him? All of him?
Could be fun. And we'd have a visual, or a sort of unvisual, unpicture. Erm, that made more sense in my head. Vanishing completely I mean, from his other selves onwards.
If 11 vanishes from time all the others logically would too... but if they wouldn't that would be an excellent reason for time travellers to regenerate... savegame points!
Okay, I have no big thoughts.
Although it's a good thing I didn't watch this one yesterday, when I was having my regular Very Down Day, because my reaction would be so much more of a mess.
Lots of pretty art, lots of pretty visuals, some nice moments... and something missing I can't quite put my finger on. Plus I don't quite know what to think about the seeing things thing.
As for all the rest... I am very glad it didn't turn into 'the Doctor magic fixes depression', or even what I thought was going to happen when the Doctor too Vincent in the TARDIS, which is that last really prolific year turning out to be a whole bunch of years of time travel getting dropped off at once. The former would be depressing as hell because of the way it's not right, and the latter would sort of devalue the actual human achievement, and they avoided both of those.
I'm less keen on the thing where the mad man turned out to be seeing true things. The trouble there is it makes perfect sense for the *Artist* to be seeing more than his neighbours, but it's a horrible clunky overused trope to have the not-crazy-crazy-person. When people see things nobody around them see, especially when they react violently to their personal perception, it's usually not because they've got the super special insight. It bothers me. A lot.
It also bothers me that they didn't mention treatment options at all. Because they did time travel to where there, well, weren't any. And Amy wouldn't have suggested anything because she thought showing him the future would fix everything. Except Amy wasn't thinking of that, which was a bit sad because why isn't she thinking of cool things that bend the laws of time too? But anyway. There's just, here, depression happens, it sucks, and the Doctor can't fix it. With no mention of the here-now medical-pshrinks that could have a go. With however mixed results. I know the time travel story has the ending stay the same, but the depression side of the story makes it a nasty little box to leave him in.
The Doctor's speech to Amy about how they added to the store of good things even if that didn't blunt the bad things... it's true enough and a good speech, but... it's part of why it didn't feel very Doctor Who. Sometimes he fixes things better.
Making the alien all violent and silent and turning out to be blind and afraid and misunderstood... I don't even know what to do with that bit. It was only killing on accident? It was only killing because it was blind? And oh yes, the *Doctor* comes up with that 'blind=superhearing' trope. Oh dear. Compensatory superpowers in the misunderstood villain... *sigh*
There were lots of bits I liked, but then there were lots of bits that made me feel a bit like when the first plate falls off a tilting stack, like it's only a small oops right then but add it to all the others just exactly like it and CRAAAAAAASH.
So it felt a bit off.
Mixed with goodness.
Okay, I give up, I'll evaluate later.
Other bits...
Oh, I didn't like Vincent magic knowing that Amy had lost someone when even Amy didn't know it. That was odd.
I feel like Amy's 4 psychiatrists could have been a Thing here, could be part of a theme, or could have given her something useful to say.
Oh, that was it, that was what was most missing, Amy was just along for the ride in this one, just there to watch. Yeah, she decided to buy him some wine, but the Doctor had just decided that too, so it don't work. She just watched and looked and got compliments based on her appearance and then got compliments based on stuff he couldn't have known. She felt less there than she should be, though her reaction at the end was important to the story. When her main function is catalysis and she's the one to stand and watch or be outside in the dark screaming... not quite right, no.
The Doctor's many faces again. And people with two heads. Someone has a Thing.
We've had the Doctors starting with 1 referenced 3 times now, the first episodes, this identification sequence, and more tenuously the library card. It might just be a cute continuity thing but I can think of more fun things to do with it, especially now with the crack swallowing time. Right now he's known... what happens if the universe forgets him? All of him?
Could be fun. And we'd have a visual, or a sort of unvisual, unpicture. Erm, that made more sense in my head. Vanishing completely I mean, from his other selves onwards.
If 11 vanishes from time all the others logically would too... but if they wouldn't that would be an excellent reason for time travellers to regenerate... savegame points!
Okay, I have no big thoughts.
Although it's a good thing I didn't watch this one yesterday, when I was having my regular Very Down Day, because my reaction would be so much more of a mess.
Lots of pretty art, lots of pretty visuals, some nice moments... and something missing I can't quite put my finger on. Plus I don't quite know what to think about the seeing things thing.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-05 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-05 08:57 pm (UTC)*nods*
no subject
Date: 2010-06-06 10:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-05 11:25 pm (UTC)