Brief Who thoughts.

[elisi]

The Doctor's Wife
I've tried to write down thoughts on this episode, honestly, but they just... don't work. 'Effulgent' is still the best description. I love the fact that they stole each other and the timey-wimey-ness of their interactions ('Goodbye'/'Hello' back to-front; 'Why is that word so sad? No. Will be sad...'; 'This is when we talked...' Oh show, breaking my heart with grammar and tenses). I love the confirmation that Timelords can change sex when they regenerate (which sheds a very interesting light on things, and explains a lot about the Doctor's general attitude to these things, actually). Loved Amy and Rory (but they'll get their own post). Loved how Eleven was so utterly heartbreaking, and yet his grief and loss wasn't the focus, and the last beat of the episode was him dancing. Really, loved it all, nothing to add.

The Rebel Flesh
Now this episode I do have thoughts on, especially since it ties in with the overarching themes, but I want to watch part 2 before I try to sort through it all (mirror, mirror, on the wall...). But! One thing I'm as sure of as I can possibly be: Ganger!Doctor is NOT the Doctor who gets killed in The Impossible Astronaut. (Much like I was certain that S5 would end with a wedding, even after Rory had been killed and removed from history.) Anyway, I am very curious about what the Doctor knows and isn't telling. Plus - I can't wait to see the Doctor trying to practice what he preaches, what with two of him there. Last time he had a clone, the poor chap got tossed into Pete's World after about three seconds' worth of interaction - this time I am expecting a lot of 'in a mirror, darkly' and so forth. And mutual bow-tie admiration. <3

Comments

[independence1776]

Loved how Eleven was so utterly heartbreaking, and yet his grief and loss wasn't the focus, and the last beat of the episode was him dancing.

Yes! Everyone hit the emotional tones exactly right. And that dancing at the end is the only way that episode could have ended.

Ganger!Doctor is NOT the Doctor who gets killed in The Impossible Astronaut.

Am curious as to why. (I half-believe Ganger!Doctor will be, know it isn't likely because it's too simple, but I want the mystery solved. The anticipation is driving me up a wall.)

Last time he had a clone, the poor chap got tossed into Pete's World after about three seconds' worth of interaction - this time I am expecting a lot of 'in a mirror, darkly' and so forth.

That's what makes me worried about the clone. A lot of people were saying, "oh, the Doctor's good. He won't mind." and I'm thinking, "What about TenII?" He certainly wasn't happy there…

(Thanks for the "avoid the Internet" spoiler warning. I'm half-glad I'll be visiting my sister for a week starting Friday and thus have little access to the Net, but at the same time annoyed because I'll be behind by a week, thanks to BBC America. >.< Avoiding spoilers is going to be… difficult.)

[elisi]

Yes! Everyone hit the emotional tones exactly right. And that dancing at the end is the only way that episode could have ended.
The Doctor Dances...

Am curious as to why. (I half-believe Ganger!Doctor will be, know it isn't likely because it's too simple, but I want the mystery solved. The anticipation is driving me up a wall.)
Heh. And so say we all... Most of all, then it's the fact that you do NOT write a scene like that and take the audience for a ride. It'd be like fixing Donna's head - some things should be what they are, or they lose all impact. Like Rory dying in the Silurian episodes - he really did die, and the price for bringing him back was heavy. Imagine if instead it had been robot!Rory and all the pain and heartache in the following episodes had been a lie...

HOWEVER, as eilowyn says below, it could be that Ganger!Doctor is the one who kills him. That would be VERY neat.

That's what makes me worried about the clone. A lot of people were saying, "oh, the Doctor's good. He won't mind." and I'm thinking, "What about TenII?" He certainly wasn't happy there…
Well the TenToo situation was different in that he was human - I think he knew exactly what Ten was planning, but that doesn't mean it didn't sit awkwardly (which RTD does admit - esp re. Rose). It was partly because TenToo was... a plot point, something to tie up Rose's story and set up Donna's fate, which was of course the focus. Now we'll get a clone with agency of his own, which should prove rather delicious.

Thanks for the "avoid the Internet" spoiler warning. I'm half-glad I'll be visiting my sister for a week starting Friday and thus have little access to the Net, but at the same time annoyed because I'll be behind by a week, thanks to BBC America. >.< Avoiding spoilers is going to be… difficult.
My pleasure, and yeah, BBCA have not really thought things through very well...

[independence1776]

Imagine if instead it had been robot!Rory and all the pain and heartache in the following episodes had been a lie...

Got it now! And that makes far more sense than anything else. No longer believe it's Ganger!Doctor.


HOWEVER, as eilowyn says below, it could be that Ganger!Doctor is the one who kills him.

I like that theory!

Well the TenToo situation was different in that he was human

I think I'm in the extreme minority in how I view TenII. He may only have one heart and a human lifespan, but he's still mostly Time Lord. And I think part of the reason he was shoved off into the parallel universe (beyond the Rose plot-point) was so that the Doctor didn't have to confront himself every day. I've lost my train of thought… I don't know where I was going with this other than the fact that the Doctor is going to have to actually confront himself in 6.06.

Now we'll get a clone with agency of his own, which should prove rather delicious.

Yes-- it's one of the things I'm looking forward to the most!

BBCA have not really thought things through very well...

They did, actually. If they aired 6.06 this weekend, a significant portion of their viewers won't see it. (This weekend is the unofficial start of summer here, no matter that the holiday is to remember fallen soldiers, and many people travel.) I'd actually be one of them, because my sister doesn't have BBC America, and watches it through iTunes. Most viewers probably aren't in fandom, and thus don't really care it was pushed back by a week, and might actually be grateful for it. All of the logic aside, I'm still annoyed by it.

[elisi]

Got it now! And that makes far more sense than anything else. No longer believe it's Ganger!Doctor.
:)

I like that theory!
Me too. It'd be... neat. But that presumes that Ganger!Doctor isn't killed off in the next episode...

I think I'm in the extreme minority in how I view TenII. He may only have one heart and a human lifespan, but he's still mostly Time Lord.
Oh oh oh! Go watch Signed, the Doctor. Srsly. A-mazing.

And I think part of the reason he was shoved off into the parallel universe (beyond the Rose plot-point) was so that the Doctor didn't have to confront himself every day.
Oh I am not disagreeing with that at all. ("...there's only one person in the universe who hates me as much as you do." By the way, have I mentioned how much I love Amy's Choice?) But - my point (which I didn't elaborate on) was that TenToo was a Timelord/human hybrid, and both parts of him are known quantities. Ganger!Doctor - well. That could get interesting... TenToo said: "I am the Doctor!" and destroyed the Daleks and Ten went 'Oh dear, you're really dangerous, Rose stop him going postal, byeeee!' Ganger!Doctor can't be gotten rid of, and considering how Eleven spent the whole of 'The Rebel Flesh' arguing that the gangers were REAL PEOPLE he has to acknowledge his other self... \o/

They did, actually. If they aired 6.06 this weekend, a significant portion of their viewers won't see it
I bow to your superior knowledge.