DW 5.11. The Lodger.

[elisi]

First of all - I adored this episode to itty bitty tiny pieces. If you didn’t, that’s fine, but take your not-adoration elsewhere, pretty please? Because this ep was my Squishy, and I shall hug it and pet it and call it my Squishy, and whenever I am sad it shall cheer me up. (Only adoxerella will get the ‘Squishy’ reference, but I thought it appropriate! *g*)

Also, just need to point out the hilarious awesomeness that is this icon. (Made by dashafeather, post here.)



Ten’s hair had the wonderful quality of reflecting his state of mind (the more agitated he was, the madder the hair), but Eleven’s seems to have a mind of his own (much like the rest of his body - I ♥ Eleven’s gangly, awkward self thiiiiis much). :)

Have a lot of thoughts, and am not entirely sure where I’ll be going, but this will probably end up as squee-y meta...

First of all, a line that stood out (well they all did, but I’m going somewhere with this one. Also all lines from memory, ‘cause I don’t have time to check ‘em. *is sad*):

The Doctor: “Never worked in an office before. Never worked in anywhere actually.”

Because it reminded me of Jack in KKBB:

Jack: "Oh, yeah! Loving that office-y feel! I always get excited in these places. To me, they're exotic. Office romances... photocopying your butt..."

Because that’s the Doctor in this ep (the photocopying your butt aside) - this whole having to be human is fabulously exotic and unusual. The way he says ‘Take me to my room!’ - it’s an adventure as great as any he’s had.

As for not being good at being human (apparently people are complaining about this, wtf???) then first of all that is the whole point. One of the reasons I ADORE the popping out of the cake in the Vampires ep is because of the way it shows the Doctor to be so utterly alien - he looks human, he speaks the same language, and yet he gets it completely wrong.

It’s like if you had to pretend to be the opposite gender - despite having spent your whole life with them, I’m pretty sure it’d still be a challenge. (The subtitle for this ep could have been 'Humans are from Earth, Timelords are from Gallifrey. *g*)

So - ever since I discovered the premise for this ep I was sat rubbing my hands in glee. And then it was EVEN BETTER THAN I EXPECTED!

I don’t even know where to start, although the rent in a paper bag was a wonderful touch. (Me thinks that he got money the same way Ten did - sonic + cash machine...)

But, one of my favourite bits was the ‘if you want to bring someone over, like a girlfriend [Craig looks Eleven over] ... or boyfriend...’ Love that the Doctor doesn’t really react to it at all, neither confirming or denying anything. We might not be getting much in the way of RTD’s queer Who this season, but this was a lovely moment. (Although Craig should hope it’s not ‘a boyfriend’, since the Master isn’t exactly human-friendly...)

Where was I? Right - the Doctor’s excitement, and attempts to ‘be human’ are the most wonderful thing EVER. The air kisses! *flails* And the way he insists on being called the Doctor. All of it proving that confidence is everything! Again it’s the Doctor being 'completely, unconsciously himself, without any compromise', even when he’s trying to pretend to be something else. (‘Less of a young professional, more of an ancient amateur.’) Oh and the 'No. No annihilation. I'm the Doctor. I'm the Oncoming Storm etc.' was just... *flails again* Also, I'm hoping that it was more than a throwaway line btw. and will tie into the finale!

Which brings me to something else - I love how his cleverness in this ep is pretty much all Show, Don’t Tell. Like when he talks to Sophie about what she wants out of life. (Competence - which in the Doctor's case is of course cleverness - happens to be one of my biggest kinks ever, so I’m all flaily about it.)

Oh and the Headbutt of Knowledge is... *waves hands around* Maybe it was some way of transferring information quickly without Person Upstairs being able to detect it, but it still cracks me up. Especially compared to Ten’s beautiful and elegant [Vulcan] mindmelds.

Also this episode had a LOT of the Doctor calling Amy ‘Pond’ something I ALWAYS love. Also her ‘urgh’ face when Craig and Sophie did their big mutual love-declarations was wonderful and made the girls love her ever more! Amy, you're awesome!

Side note - when she later asks the Doctor if he can’t find her a man, he does exactly what he did in ‘The Beast Below’ when she asked if he was a parent: Doesn’t answer at all, and changes the subject. Which is one of the things I like so much about Eleven - he tends to tell the truth. Like when he tells Craig to put his hand on the big frazzly button, to save the planet (it'll be all safe 'cause of him not wanting to leave, was it?):

Craig: "Are you sure it'll work?"
ELeven: "Yes!"
Craig: “Is that a lie?”
Eleven: “Of course it’s a lie!”

He’ll lie if he has to, but he really doesn’t like it. It doesn’t sit well with his temperament.

Oh, and the world was saved by LOVE! Ever since seeing ‘Doctor Who and the Daemons’ (a Third Doctor story where in Jo SAVES THE WORLD WITH LOVE) I have had a huge soft spot for this particular plot device. So I DON’T CARE that it makes no sense. I just love it and draw pink, sparkly hearts around the makes-no-sense of it all. :)

What else... OH! The Doctor saving Craig’s life, and then feeding him tea. I just. There’s something too wonderful for words about that scene. The Doctor grumbles a bit about Craig having touched 'the rot’ even though he had been told not to, but he’s not particularly surprised or angry. He just gets on with looking after him:

Craig: “It [the meeting] is important!”
The Doctor (like a doctor and a wise old grandfather and an endlessly patient mother all rolled up into one): “You are important!”

It’s one of those moments where I can see every one of his 907 years, because this is what he does - he looks after everyone, all the wonderful, brilliant little people who can’t look after themselves, so he has to step in. Not for for the sake of honour or gratitude (I don’t think Craig ever realises that the Doctor saved his life, and the Doctor doesn’t mention it), but quite simply because he can. Because he doesn't want people to hurt.

(All that pain and suffering. And it made him kind...)

It’s one of the things I love most about the Doctor (all of him) - the fact that he cares. That everyone is important and worth saving, that the happiness of ordinary people is what he fights for.

♥

I SO don’t have time to write anymore. But - loved the football match (TOTALLY a homage to the Fifth Doctor playing cricket), and the running around (half) naked, and the talking to the cat, and the big gizmo in his bedroom that looked very much like the timey-wimey interferer that he built to interfere with the Master’s signals back in DW and the Daemons (‘It’s a statement on modern society! Ooooh, ain’t modern society awful!’), and the cooking and ‘Where’s the onswitch’ and ‘Do I have to stay now?’ and ‘Can you hold? I have to eat a biscuit’ and... *FLAIL*

SO MUCH AWESOME! And they made him keep the key! ♥ ♥ ♥

And that’s all [that I’m writing right now, anyway], except for AMY FOUND THE RING!!! (Rooooory! Rory come back we NEED you!)

Look, I only used the very minimum of capslocks, I’m very proud of myself. :)