![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Late (as usual)... But with added River meta.
Happy Belated Birthday ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
promethia_tenk, and a Happy Birthday today to hesadevil!
Life is... busy. This weekend we're having one of Darcy's friends staying, which is nice, but means minimal LJ time. But since Darcy's still not feeling brilliant we stayed in and watched 'Groundhog Day' this afternoon, and I think it'd probably be my Desert Island movie. *deep happy sigh*
Later, the Cherub proved that she is adorableness incarnate by holding up the (Tenth) Doctor's screwdriver to her forehead and going: "WOULD. YOU. LIKE. A. CUP. OF. TEA?" (Victory of the Daleks is her favourite episode ever, and she can recite whole conversations by heart...)
Oh, and Promethia, since my birthday wishes are belated, I'll throw in a teeny bit of River meta. Thoughts on the Library and the Angel eps under the cut.
Firstly, watching the Library episodes was very interesting in the light of S5, but what I noticed was this exchange, towards the end of 'Forest of the Dead':
MR LUX: We need to get to the main computer, I'll show you.
DOCTOR: It's at the core of the planet.
RIVER: Well, then. Let's go!
[She sonics the symbol on the floor at the center of the room, and it opens up.]
RIVER: Gravity platform!
DOCTOR: I bet I like you.
RIVER: Oh, you do!
In those last two lines you can see things just snapping together - the Doctor has a problem, and River already has the solution (she sonics the floor symbol when they enter, and obviously works out what it is then). I think he at that point begins to realise just what an asset she is - the way she can deal with problems on her own and doesn't wait to be told what to do; and these are things he likes. A lot. But what I noticed even more was the smile on her face. How she so obviously got a feeling of 'Finally, he's getting it!' That she wouldn't have to argue with him every step of the way anymore. This scene, I think, is far more important for them than the moment when she tells him his name. That moment is borne out of painful necessity, whereas this one just flows from the characters naturally. (And I rather like it, hence the rambling.)
ANYWAY, what I was going to write about was the Angel episodes. Because Promethia mentioned how nervous River is (once the soldiers show up), and upon rewatch I had to agree. Not just nervous but exceedingly jumpy, on edge, and evasive. Trying to work out why this was (in the final two episodes, with the universe collapsing, she's far calmer!), I realised that the reason is two-fold. One, she knows what's going to happen in the future (end of the universe), which means that she needs to get both the Doctor and Amy through the adventure safe and sound - cause otherwise, bye bye reality (the Doctor needs to save the universe, and Amy needs to bring him back), and River can't let slip a single spoiler, she knows that, hence nervousness and evasiveness. And Two, once the crack shows up she realises that she's inside re-written time, and how exactly does that even work? No wonder she's on a knife edge. Then at the end, once they're all out, the single dominant feeling, I think, is one of relief. She knows that things are going to be OK now, and she can stop worrying. (In her own way, I suppose you can say that she saves the universe in these episodes! 'Savethe cheerleader the Doctor and his companion, save the world the universe... And, of course, she can't tell anyone. She is very, very lonely here, carrying an extra burden no one knows - or indeed can know - about.)
And that's all for now. *runs back to RL*
promethia_tenk, and a Happy Birthday today to hesadevil! Life is... busy. This weekend we're having one of Darcy's friends staying, which is nice, but means minimal LJ time. But since Darcy's still not feeling brilliant we stayed in and watched 'Groundhog Day' this afternoon, and I think it'd probably be my Desert Island movie. *deep happy sigh*
Later, the Cherub proved that she is adorableness incarnate by holding up the (Tenth) Doctor's screwdriver to her forehead and going: "WOULD. YOU. LIKE. A. CUP. OF. TEA?" (Victory of the Daleks is her favourite episode ever, and she can recite whole conversations by heart...)
Oh, and Promethia, since my birthday wishes are belated, I'll throw in a teeny bit of River meta. Thoughts on the Library and the Angel eps under the cut.
Firstly, watching the Library episodes was very interesting in the light of S5, but what I noticed was this exchange, towards the end of 'Forest of the Dead':
MR LUX: We need to get to the main computer, I'll show you.
DOCTOR: It's at the core of the planet.
RIVER: Well, then. Let's go!
[She sonics the symbol on the floor at the center of the room, and it opens up.]
RIVER: Gravity platform!
DOCTOR: I bet I like you.
RIVER: Oh, you do!
In those last two lines you can see things just snapping together - the Doctor has a problem, and River already has the solution (she sonics the floor symbol when they enter, and obviously works out what it is then). I think he at that point begins to realise just what an asset she is - the way she can deal with problems on her own and doesn't wait to be told what to do; and these are things he likes. A lot. But what I noticed even more was the smile on her face. How she so obviously got a feeling of 'Finally, he's getting it!' That she wouldn't have to argue with him every step of the way anymore. This scene, I think, is far more important for them than the moment when she tells him his name. That moment is borne out of painful necessity, whereas this one just flows from the characters naturally. (And I rather like it, hence the rambling.)
ANYWAY, what I was going to write about was the Angel episodes. Because Promethia mentioned how nervous River is (once the soldiers show up), and upon rewatch I had to agree. Not just nervous but exceedingly jumpy, on edge, and evasive. Trying to work out why this was (in the final two episodes, with the universe collapsing, she's far calmer!), I realised that the reason is two-fold. One, she knows what's going to happen in the future (end of the universe), which means that she needs to get both the Doctor and Amy through the adventure safe and sound - cause otherwise, bye bye reality (the Doctor needs to save the universe, and Amy needs to bring him back), and River can't let slip a single spoiler, she knows that, hence nervousness and evasiveness. And Two, once the crack shows up she realises that she's inside re-written time, and how exactly does that even work? No wonder she's on a knife edge. Then at the end, once they're all out, the single dominant feeling, I think, is one of relief. She knows that things are going to be OK now, and she can stop worrying. (In her own way, I suppose you can say that she saves the universe in these episodes! 'Save
And that's all for now. *runs back to RL*
and yet even more . . .
Did you ever read that article that one of the sci fi websites put together analyzing all the technicalities of how the cracks and the finale worked? Let me try to find it . . . Here it is:
http://www.denofgeek.com/television/529293/explaining_doctor_who_the_big_bang.html
It's a complicated read, but I'm really impressed with how much sense they managed to make it all make. Basically, the normal timeline of the series does not get rewritten in the Big Bang, and the entire season still happened. The universe was destroyed and recreated in the exact same instant on Amy's wedding day, and for everybody not involved with the events of "The Big Bang" it would be just like the universe had continued uninterrupted. The cracks still happened--they appeared and grew and ate things and disappeared again. Anything eaten by the cracks stays eaten unless Amy specifically remembered it back into existence. What does disappear/get rewritten is all the events of "The Big Bang" itself--that whole alternate universe and timeline didn't happen. All of which is just a complicated way of saying, yes, River can have a run-in with a crack in her personal timeline even after the cracks have been fixed in the show's timeline. Although, come to think of it, how is she to know that? But then she does seem pretty knowledgeable about the mechanics of rewriting the entire universe in "The Big Bang," enough to be able to explain it all to Amy and Rory, so . . . ok, I give up. Wibbly wobbly, timey wimey.
(In her own way, I suppose you can say that she saves the universe in these episodes! 'Save
the cheerleaderthe Doctor and his companion, savethe worldthe universe...Tee hee :-) Actually, it does kind of add a whole other layer to her attempt--again--to sacrifice herself in the Doctor's place. How often do you think she tries that? Wonder if she tried it in "The Big Bang." There was a conversation in the Pandorica we weren't privy to, before River came to get Amy. That'll get pretty dull for the audience after awhile, though--lol.
And, of course, she can't tell anyone. She is very, very lonely here, carrying an extra burden no one knows - or indeed can know - about.)
Ouch. That must be the case for both of them most of the time, though. At least they're together in their aloneness?
*surveys word vomit* And I think I've managed to argue against just about everything you said :-\ Sorry? I'm still very happy you wrote it *hugs the birthday meta*
Re: and yet even more . . .
Heh. I shall read the article and maybe get back to you (if I can think of anything intelligent) - but going down a tangent, then what has struck me is that the Doctor-less universe seems to have worked quite happily, which is in stark contrast to the parallel world in 'Turn Left' (which of course was there for a reason, I'm not trying to make it sound bad). It just once more confirmed that Moffat's Doctor is someone who is more like a wonderful cornucopia of fabulousness, without whom the world would be a greyer, less magical place, rather than someone vital to the whole destiny of the world... (Reminded me of this: 'Doctor, listen to me. You can't die, you're too... You're too nice. Too brave, too kind and far, far too silly. You're like Father Christmas! The Wizard of Oz! Scooby Doo! And I love you very much. And we all need you and you simply cannot die!' rather than 'You were my life!')
That'll get pretty dull for the audience after awhile, though--lol.
Hee! It would rather. *g* Plus, overwrought romance isn't very well suited to DW... (If you'd watched Buffy I could point to the *perfect* example. ETA: Actually, I tracked it down. Watch this. You can start at the beginning or just jump to 55 seconds in. Watch for the next minute and a bit. And yes, it's supposed to be rather ridiculous. *g* BtVS is quite brilliant at poking fun at itself.)
*surveys word vomit* And I think I've managed to argue against just about everything you said :-\ Sorry? I'm still very happy you wrote it *hugs the birthday meta*
Don't be sorry! Your thoughts were brilliant and intriguing and much better than 'That was very interesting, thank you'. (Which is a perfectly nice response, but getting someone to *think* is much more satisfying!) *hugs your comments*
Re: and yet even more . . .
I forget most of it by this point, but any time anybody has a "what actually happened in the finale?" question I point them towards it. I'm pretty sure the answers are all in it, even if I forget them.
what has struck me is that the Doctor-less universe seems to have worked quite happily, which is in stark contrast to the parallel world in 'Turn Left' (which of course was there for a reason, I'm not trying to make it sound bad).
Ah, that I do remember about. The cracks seem to erase the memory of a person without erasing their effects on the universe (ie: Amy's parents are erased, but Amy still exists; the Angels were eaten but the events of the Angels episodes still happened). So while all memory of the Doctor has been erased, the things he did remain.
(Reminded me of this: 'Doctor, listen to me. You can't die, you're too... You're too nice. Too brave, too kind and far, far too silly. You're like Father Christmas! The Wizard of Oz! Scooby Doo! And I love you very much. And we all need you and you simply cannot die!' rather than 'You were my life!')
Those sound familiar. Where are they from?
ETA: Actually, I tracked it down. Watch this. You can start at the beginning or just jump to 55 seconds in. Watch for the next minute and a bit. And yes, it's supposed to be rather ridiculous. *g* BtVS is quite brilliant at poking fun at itself.)
OMG, that is hysterical. Love it. Actually, I would rather like to see DW go for something really cracky and overwrought like that--just for an episode. I mean, the show can handle some genre bending.
(Which is a perfectly nice response, but getting someone to *think* is much more satisfying!) *hugs your comments*
So true :-)
Re: and yet even more . . .
Ahhh. Interesting. Yes, I can sort of see that.
Those sound familiar. Where are they from?
The Curse of Fatal Death!!! It is the key to EVERYTHING!!!
OMG, that is hysterical. Love it. Actually, I would rather like to see DW go for something really cracky and overwrought like that--just for an episode. I mean, the show can handle some genre bending.
The whole ep is from the POV of Xander (the guy at the start), and I love, love, love the send up of the Buffy/Angel romance. (Not that it isn’t properly heartbreaking on occasion, but in this ep the BIG APOCALYPSE they deal with all takes place in the background whilst Xander is fighting a much smaller battle of his own. It works like a dream. Especially love the background music swelling as he leaves.)