Doctor Who: The Angels Take Manhattan
Sep. 29th, 2012 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
beccaelizabethI have one big problem with this episode. Actually, with several stories now. Suicide. Not even heroic sacrifice, really, because Amy certainly didn't need to do that to save the day. They basically killed themselves so they could be together.
The fact this is a standard romantic trope is really wearying.
Rory's sacrifice was pretty cool, him thinking of the paradox, that works. It even makes the entirely crazy making multiple deaths he's been through have consequences, because he thinks he'll come back. Except for that turning out to not be insane, that was interesting.
So, jumping off a roof, bad.
Epic, tragic, romantic, all that stuff, but FFS this is a kid's show, can we quit it with the suicides now?
But hey, they survived it and they ended up together and all is happy fun times, right?
And then Amy did it again.
The thing is, if you can't go to 1938, you can certainly still go to 1937, and indeed 1939. And if you can't go to New York, there are these things called ships that actually work across planetary surfaces. So if Rory leaves a note and lives just a little while without Amy, they can in fact go back and pick him up. And really, it's a grave stone, it's not difficult to make one of those.
Finding him shouldn't have been difficult, and the Angels in other stories didn't send everyone to the same when where, so following him that way is daft.
I have no objections to them living the rest of their long lives together, I just think the temporal mechanics of it was bloody stupid.
(The only way it would be important to go with the Angels was if she was going to be locked in one room with Rory in their prison farm. But I think it's safe to say that's not the happy ending. And they had just blown the prison farm up.)
I kind of hate the bit River said about ageing and endings too.
But she's completely wrong. The Doctor saw her ending first. And then he married her. He's seen her older and he's seen her end, and he loves her anyway.
So why even say that?
It's stupid.
So it's epic and romantic and made me have a sad for about as long as it took to open my computer and then I started thinking about it and then it... doesn't work. That I can see.
On the plus side, the opening sequence rocked, I had to stop and LOL at the statue of liberty bit.
And the baby Angels chasing Rory was awesome. *puffs*
... nope, back to the minus side already...
hey, did this Bechdel pass? Amy and Melody-River talked about Rory and the Doctor. Were there any other women in the story?
Also there was Scary Black Man, but as far as we know he didn't die, so that's a half a plus.
The bit with Amy's reading glasses and lines around her eyes and everything River said annoys me more every time I think of it. Because it would be fine if they just used it to indicate time passing and how very long the Ponds have already travelled with the Doctor, but then River said the thing and made it all sound bad.
And then Amy sent the Doctor back to Amelia to tell him to tell stories to her, which would make the whole thing fixed, and the last image indicated we'd seen that ending back at the beginning. It's like hi I too old now you go hang out with small child me instead. What? Weird.
Okay, I wanted to be proper sad at epic romantic sad ending, but instead I'm getting grumpier the more I think about it.
I have no problem with her choosing Rory, she always chooses Rory, Rory is awesome and brave and shouldn't be alone, but how can they get stranded? Doesn't make sense.
One big problem and a stack of little ones then.
The fact this is a standard romantic trope is really wearying.
Rory's sacrifice was pretty cool, him thinking of the paradox, that works. It even makes the entirely crazy making multiple deaths he's been through have consequences, because he thinks he'll come back. Except for that turning out to not be insane, that was interesting.
So, jumping off a roof, bad.
Epic, tragic, romantic, all that stuff, but FFS this is a kid's show, can we quit it with the suicides now?
But hey, they survived it and they ended up together and all is happy fun times, right?
And then Amy did it again.
The thing is, if you can't go to 1938, you can certainly still go to 1937, and indeed 1939. And if you can't go to New York, there are these things called ships that actually work across planetary surfaces. So if Rory leaves a note and lives just a little while without Amy, they can in fact go back and pick him up. And really, it's a grave stone, it's not difficult to make one of those.
Finding him shouldn't have been difficult, and the Angels in other stories didn't send everyone to the same when where, so following him that way is daft.
I have no objections to them living the rest of their long lives together, I just think the temporal mechanics of it was bloody stupid.
(The only way it would be important to go with the Angels was if she was going to be locked in one room with Rory in their prison farm. But I think it's safe to say that's not the happy ending. And they had just blown the prison farm up.)
I kind of hate the bit River said about ageing and endings too.
But she's completely wrong. The Doctor saw her ending first. And then he married her. He's seen her older and he's seen her end, and he loves her anyway.
So why even say that?
It's stupid.
So it's epic and romantic and made me have a sad for about as long as it took to open my computer and then I started thinking about it and then it... doesn't work. That I can see.
On the plus side, the opening sequence rocked, I had to stop and LOL at the statue of liberty bit.
And the baby Angels chasing Rory was awesome. *puffs*
... nope, back to the minus side already...
hey, did this Bechdel pass? Amy and Melody-River talked about Rory and the Doctor. Were there any other women in the story?
Also there was Scary Black Man, but as far as we know he didn't die, so that's a half a plus.
The bit with Amy's reading glasses and lines around her eyes and everything River said annoys me more every time I think of it. Because it would be fine if they just used it to indicate time passing and how very long the Ponds have already travelled with the Doctor, but then River said the thing and made it all sound bad.
And then Amy sent the Doctor back to Amelia to tell him to tell stories to her, which would make the whole thing fixed, and the last image indicated we'd seen that ending back at the beginning. It's like hi I too old now you go hang out with small child me instead. What? Weird.
Okay, I wanted to be proper sad at epic romantic sad ending, but instead I'm getting grumpier the more I think about it.
I have no problem with her choosing Rory, she always chooses Rory, Rory is awesome and brave and shouldn't be alone, but how can they get stranded? Doesn't make sense.
One big problem and a stack of little ones then.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2012-09-30 04:34 am (UTC)Impossible situation: Get Amy and Rory out in such a way that they can never come back, but don't die in the doing of it.
On that level, I guess it worked. They're alive, they live out their long lives together, but the Doctor can't reach them.
Argh. I'm still not happy, but at least they're alive and together. And I loved the Angel Statue of Liberty.
no subject
Date: 2012-10-02 03:44 am (UTC)