New Who Review: Two for One Review
Sep. 15th, 2011 10:59 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
puppetmakerThis one is going to be for both “Night Terrors” and “The Girl Who Waited” since they are of a kind. And it looks like the next one falls into what are called bottle shows where you don’t use much sets which saves money over. And for “The Girl Who Waited” you can second direct a bunch of that episode while shooting “Night Terrors” at the same time thus again saving money.
Rules apply. Nothing past this episode. No spoilers please for future episode but there will be spoilers for everything up to this point behind the cut and in the credits.
The scripts for both were interesting ideas but much a like in many ways. For one thing they could be dropped in at any point and rejiggered with the overall story arc where needed. Sort of a holding pattern for the show which is fine.
I thought both were good episodes for different reasons. Acting was solid. I have to say that the casting director has been right on the entire season.
I am grateful for things that make my family feel better.
More thoughts after the cut.
Night Terrors
The idea of the cuckoo is a really neat one. It kinda got lost in the script. I don’t think we are suppose to know what George is at the end of the episode because I don’t think that the PTB (powers that be) have figured out what he was. And I am Ok with that loose end but there were a couple of other things that they did that sort of annoyed the writer side of my brain but I am having a hard time articulating what they were exactly. Part of it was that I couldn’t really see the inside of the dollhouse. The lighting was piss poor through out the episode. I know it was suppose to be dark because it was night and a little boy who was terrified of everything but there comes a point that if you can’t see the story, it’s rather annoying.
I do like that Alex accepts his son even knowing everything that he knows. This is his child and he would defend him to the ends of the earth. That’s what parenting is and it doesn’t matter how the child came into your life, you take responsibility and take care of the child and that is all that matters. So the ending worked for me on a couple of levels but then I am a parent and a step-parent.
The dolls were creepy and I expect I’ll be seeing a number of them at DragonCon this year. They are based on Peg-dolls which what I thought when I saw the first one.
The Girl Who Waiting
Raise your hand if you figured out the end about half way through. Peter and I both knew the ending the minute we knew that both Amys existed.
This was very much a bottle show. The Doctor was trapped in the TARDIS leaving Rory to deal with the problem at hand. And rule 1 was in effect big time. So we get a lot of Rory and Amy.
I have to give lots of acting kudos to Karen Gillian for making old Amy so different from current Amy. The make-up was pretty much rubbish for the most part but her body language and how she spoke and reacted was that of someone who had to take the long way around to be at the same point in time at the TARDIS. This episode depended on her being as good an actress as we all suspected she was. I see a long career for Ms. Gillian post Doctor Who.
Also points to Arthur Darvill for how he had Rory act and react to what was going on around him. Rory loves Amy and it didn’t matter what she looked like. He loves her with all his heart. And she loves him no matter where she is in the timeline. Which is kind of nice.
Both stories didn’t have River and I was totally fine with that. I am kind of Rivered out at this point. I know she is showing up again this season since this is the season of Melody Pond and the death of the Doctor. And I am sure that it will be sorted out in the next two episodes. Well kinda sure….OK I have no idea how he is wrapping this up in two since this week seems to be another bottle show that could be dropped in at any point.
Next week we examine “The God Complex”.
Rules apply. Nothing past this episode. No spoilers please for future episode but there will be spoilers for everything up to this point behind the cut and in the credits.
The scripts for both were interesting ideas but much a like in many ways. For one thing they could be dropped in at any point and rejiggered with the overall story arc where needed. Sort of a holding pattern for the show which is fine.
I thought both were good episodes for different reasons. Acting was solid. I have to say that the casting director has been right on the entire season.
I am grateful for things that make my family feel better.
More thoughts after the cut.
Night Terrors
The idea of the cuckoo is a really neat one. It kinda got lost in the script. I don’t think we are suppose to know what George is at the end of the episode because I don’t think that the PTB (powers that be) have figured out what he was. And I am Ok with that loose end but there were a couple of other things that they did that sort of annoyed the writer side of my brain but I am having a hard time articulating what they were exactly. Part of it was that I couldn’t really see the inside of the dollhouse. The lighting was piss poor through out the episode. I know it was suppose to be dark because it was night and a little boy who was terrified of everything but there comes a point that if you can’t see the story, it’s rather annoying.
I do like that Alex accepts his son even knowing everything that he knows. This is his child and he would defend him to the ends of the earth. That’s what parenting is and it doesn’t matter how the child came into your life, you take responsibility and take care of the child and that is all that matters. So the ending worked for me on a couple of levels but then I am a parent and a step-parent.
The dolls were creepy and I expect I’ll be seeing a number of them at DragonCon this year. They are based on Peg-dolls which what I thought when I saw the first one.
The Girl Who Waiting
Raise your hand if you figured out the end about half way through. Peter and I both knew the ending the minute we knew that both Amys existed.
This was very much a bottle show. The Doctor was trapped in the TARDIS leaving Rory to deal with the problem at hand. And rule 1 was in effect big time. So we get a lot of Rory and Amy.
I have to give lots of acting kudos to Karen Gillian for making old Amy so different from current Amy. The make-up was pretty much rubbish for the most part but her body language and how she spoke and reacted was that of someone who had to take the long way around to be at the same point in time at the TARDIS. This episode depended on her being as good an actress as we all suspected she was. I see a long career for Ms. Gillian post Doctor Who.
Also points to Arthur Darvill for how he had Rory act and react to what was going on around him. Rory loves Amy and it didn’t matter what she looked like. He loves her with all his heart. And she loves him no matter where she is in the timeline. Which is kind of nice.
Both stories didn’t have River and I was totally fine with that. I am kind of Rivered out at this point. I know she is showing up again this season since this is the season of Melody Pond and the death of the Doctor. And I am sure that it will be sorted out in the next two episodes. Well kinda sure….OK I have no idea how he is wrapping this up in two since this week seems to be another bottle show that could be dropped in at any point.
Next week we examine “The God Complex”.
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no subject
Date: 2011-09-15 03:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-15 06:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-09-17 03:14 pm (UTC)That said, I think that "The Girl Who Waited" was really quite a fine episode. Yes, I knew how it was going to end as soon as Old Amy showed up but, for me, the proof was in how said ending was handled and I think the episode shines in that respect. There was no way this wasn't going to be hard for Rory and I was glad to see that the script didn't sidestep the hard choices to be made.
I enjoyed "Night Terrors" but I think it pales in comparison. While the stakes were, in many ways, just as high as they were in "The Girl Who Waited," what with Amy being turned into a peg doll and all, the emotional depth and resonance just wasn't there in this one mainly because it wasn't Rory and Amy's story; it was George's in whom I wasn't terribly invested.