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apple_pathwaysI've now watched each of the first two episodes of the new season twice. I have Questions and Concerns. I would like to know if other people share my questions and concerns, and if they have any clever speculation they'd like to share as to the answers. Let me know your thoughts! But please: NO SPOILERS FOR UPCOMING EPISODES!
Before I start, let me just reassure everyone: I also have much love for these episodes! The Silence? Doctor/River? Doctor cuddling Rory coming out of the body bag? Regenerating seven year-olds in spacesuits? Amy's HAIR? Etc. etc. SQUEE! I love this show like WHOA, so don't think because I'm picking it apart it means I'm not still madly infatuated with its genius. I always analyze the ones I love! (If you'd like to share your squee for anything I've forgotten in the comments, please do!)
Now, on to my Concerns:
1. Since when is the Doctor Ok with all the guns and violence?
One of the things I've always loved about Doctor Who, and about Ten in particular, was the Doctor's dedication to peace and non-violent solutions. (Incidentally, one of the things that has always annoyed me about Doctor Who, and Ten in particular, is how often the Doctor benefits from the violence committed by others without being called on it. People are killed, sacrificed, and entire races annhilated, and the Doctor gets to stand by and ring his hands about the tragedy of it all, all the while soaking up the credit for saving the day, despite the fact it's never explored exactly how he would have achieved the same results without violence. Anyway.)
There are guns all over this episode, and the Doctor never so much as blinks. It used to be he couldn't stand to be in the same room with a gun! (I suppose this has to do with the show being set in America, where naturally, we're all used to having guns waved around all the time. *eyeroll* Yes, the Trigger-Happy American stereotype did bug me, but then I do realize that we don't get to stomp all over the world with our guns and our bravado and not get called on it occasionally. So moving on...)
I'm not so sure I like the wild west gunslinger direction our River is taking. I know it's been happening for awhile, but I think there was altogether too much shooting in these episodes, and it started to get to me.
2. Speaking of shooting: WTF is up with Amy shooting a little girl IN THE FACE, and then it just getting hand-waved away the next week?
This better come back later and have Significance. I don't like the idea of Amy shooting at children as a cheap stunt to end the episode on a dramatic note.
3. Amy's Schroedinger's Pregnancy
Someone needs to help me with the timeline. Ok, so:
Amy tells the Doctor that she didn't want to tell Rory she thought she was pregnant, because she was afraid she might have been pregnant while travelling in the TARDIS, and she was worried the time travel and whatnot might have affected the baby.
At the beginning of The Impossible Astronaut (TIA), Rory mentions it has been two months since they've seen the Doctor.
This means, for Amy to have been pregnant while travelling in the TARDIS, she'd have to be at least 3 months along when she tells the Doctor she's pregnant.
3 months is just...a long time! It's a long time to think you're pregnant without having a doctor confirm it (and to start prenatal care). It's also a long time to hide the fact you think you're pregnant from your new husband. Finally, it's a bit far in for an "OMG I'm pregnant!" "Oops, my bad, I'm not"-kinda scare.
And then, AND THEN: they spend a further three months in America hunting down The Silence before the events of Day of the Moon (DOTM). Which means, if Amy is pregnant, she is about SIX MONTHS along at the end of DOTM. I know it's some weird, timey-wimey, Schroedinger's pregnancy, but still: shouldn't be showing, even if she's only intermittently pregnant?
4. While we're on the subject, about them spending 3 months hunting down The Silence before DOTM: whuh? Why? And why haven't they changed their clothes? My brain hurts!
5. Aliens. In. Suits. WHY??? They have no need to Blend In. WHY ARE THEY WEARING SUITS???
Here's what I want the answer to be: that suits are actually a totally alien clothing choice, and another example of how The Silence have manipulated humanity. It would go a long way toward explaining why all (Western...) men dress alike when they want to look smart.
Other fun things that might be worth speculating on: If Amy's occasional bouts of nausea are a result of her Timey Wimey pregnancy, does this mean River is also Intermittently Pregnant, as she exhibited the same symptoms? What's up with the picture of Amy and the baby? Are the other pictures on the nightstand supposed to be Amy as a little girl? (They do look like old pictures of Karen...) If there is a baby, is it Rory's? (IT HAS TO BE, RIGHT? RIGHT???) Why does the little girl have super powers of regeneration??? ETA one more: who's the lady in the eyepatch looking out of the little girl's room at the orphanage?
HOW AWESOME IS THIS SHOW?
:D
Before I start, let me just reassure everyone: I also have much love for these episodes! The Silence? Doctor/River? Doctor cuddling Rory coming out of the body bag? Regenerating seven year-olds in spacesuits? Amy's HAIR? Etc. etc. SQUEE! I love this show like WHOA, so don't think because I'm picking it apart it means I'm not still madly infatuated with its genius. I always analyze the ones I love! (If you'd like to share your squee for anything I've forgotten in the comments, please do!)
Now, on to my Concerns:
1. Since when is the Doctor Ok with all the guns and violence?
One of the things I've always loved about Doctor Who, and about Ten in particular, was the Doctor's dedication to peace and non-violent solutions. (Incidentally, one of the things that has always annoyed me about Doctor Who, and Ten in particular, is how often the Doctor benefits from the violence committed by others without being called on it. People are killed, sacrificed, and entire races annhilated, and the Doctor gets to stand by and ring his hands about the tragedy of it all, all the while soaking up the credit for saving the day, despite the fact it's never explored exactly how he would have achieved the same results without violence. Anyway.)
There are guns all over this episode, and the Doctor never so much as blinks. It used to be he couldn't stand to be in the same room with a gun! (I suppose this has to do with the show being set in America, where naturally, we're all used to having guns waved around all the time. *eyeroll* Yes, the Trigger-Happy American stereotype did bug me, but then I do realize that we don't get to stomp all over the world with our guns and our bravado and not get called on it occasionally. So moving on...)
I'm not so sure I like the wild west gunslinger direction our River is taking. I know it's been happening for awhile, but I think there was altogether too much shooting in these episodes, and it started to get to me.
2. Speaking of shooting: WTF is up with Amy shooting a little girl IN THE FACE, and then it just getting hand-waved away the next week?
This better come back later and have Significance. I don't like the idea of Amy shooting at children as a cheap stunt to end the episode on a dramatic note.
3. Amy's Schroedinger's Pregnancy
Someone needs to help me with the timeline. Ok, so:
3 months is just...a long time! It's a long time to think you're pregnant without having a doctor confirm it (and to start prenatal care). It's also a long time to hide the fact you think you're pregnant from your new husband. Finally, it's a bit far in for an "OMG I'm pregnant!" "Oops, my bad, I'm not"-kinda scare.
And then, AND THEN: they spend a further three months in America hunting down The Silence before the events of Day of the Moon (DOTM). Which means, if Amy is pregnant, she is about SIX MONTHS along at the end of DOTM. I know it's some weird, timey-wimey, Schroedinger's pregnancy, but still: shouldn't be showing, even if she's only intermittently pregnant?
4. While we're on the subject, about them spending 3 months hunting down The Silence before DOTM: whuh? Why? And why haven't they changed their clothes? My brain hurts!
5. Aliens. In. Suits. WHY??? They have no need to Blend In. WHY ARE THEY WEARING SUITS???
Here's what I want the answer to be: that suits are actually a totally alien clothing choice, and another example of how The Silence have manipulated humanity. It would go a long way toward explaining why all (Western...) men dress alike when they want to look smart.
Other fun things that might be worth speculating on: If Amy's occasional bouts of nausea are a result of her Timey Wimey pregnancy, does this mean River is also Intermittently Pregnant, as she exhibited the same symptoms? What's up with the picture of Amy and the baby? Are the other pictures on the nightstand supposed to be Amy as a little girl? (They do look like old pictures of Karen...) If there is a baby, is it Rory's? (IT HAS TO BE, RIGHT? RIGHT???) Why does the little girl have super powers of regeneration??? ETA one more: who's the lady in the eyepatch looking out of the little girl's room at the orphanage?
HOW AWESOME IS THIS SHOW?
:D
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no subject
Date: 2011-05-01 08:26 pm (UTC)I just really, really hope the timeline is specifically addressed, because it seems like there's a lot of time passing unnecessarily and unaccounted for! They spend three months investigating the Silence between TIA and DOTM? Not only that, but they split up! Rory and Amy have only been married for roughly two months at the beginning of TIA: and they voluntarily separate for three months to chase after aliens? IDEK.
I DO NOT WANT A SILENCE ALIEN BABY! Just: please, no! (Though I am intrigued by the final scene where the Doctor's giving Amy the full body scan. What does it meeeann???) :P
I expected at least some angst/moralizing about Amy shooting the little girl! I never for a moment thought she would actually kill the girl, but I did expect to see some of the aftermath.
I love this show and its pain-inducing effects on my brain. :P The Moff has a track record as a man who provides answers, so I'm looking forward to what he comes up with to explain all this away!
no subject
Date: 2011-05-02 04:20 am (UTC)Yeah I'm not sure about the gun thing. I haven't seen 11 actually use a gun and he clearly didn't want Amy to shoot the girl-astronaut, but he was OK with River blasting the Silence (but I figure that's because he knows River's style and that he can't change it). I think 11 has ADD and just does whatever.
Yeah, I guess Rory and Amy are one of those couples that don't mind splitting up if it's for the good of mankind. But really, WTF is up with Amy running around AFTER telling the Doctor she's preggers and he ALLOWS her to run? That whole scene at the end of the first ep needs to be clarified because all we saw was Canton's point of view. That's not enough. Something else happened there - I mean, how did Rory and River escape the Silence? At the end of the first ep, River gasped "Rory!" and we never found out what happened. All of that was just...AH I AM SO AGGRAVATED I JUST WANT ANSWERS. Damn you Moffat for making my brain hurt from speculation.
Agreed 111110000 percent - NO ALIEN BABY. I wondered about the scan too. I can't even think right now, there's just too much going on to even digest that.
We'll get an explanation about the whole shooting the girl thing. There's something funny about how she comes into the room when Amy sees the photo and then all of a sudden, Amy's gone and the girl's out of the suit. Bizarre. Maybe Amy helped her out of the suit? I mean, River did say that she broke out of it.
SIGH. So many thoughts, so little time. And now with this whole Osama bin Laden thing - I can't even think coherently. It's all too bizarre.
Anyway - I'm done rambling :) Good night and happy speculating!