![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
Victory of the Daleks
Gaaaaaaahhhh why so slow. Seriously. Speed up those episodes. All everyone did all episode was stand around and talk. And then show people push little figures around a battlefield table. And talk some more. And introduce the new iDaleks (sponsored by AppleTM). And talk some more. And, yeah, maybe talk some more then.
No surprises, no tension, no interesting scenes. Good God, the lights went out! Show me some people being actually affected by that. Make British intelligence pick up a German air squad on their way to London while the lights were blazing. Make people panic, show me some emotion. An old dude in front of what was clearly a green screen isn't going to do. Get some movement in your scenes.
Speaking of movement--in the first four seasons, wasn't the Doctor all about the running? Donna said it; there's an awful lot of running involved. The first thing Nine said to Rose was "run". Both Nine and Ten had a bajillion scenes where they were just running like maniacs, towards danger, away from danger, whatever. They were moving.
Eleven doesn't run. He stands around and talks. He's awfully static. I saw him stumbling/running away from the Dalek firing at him and went, oh look! The Doctor's running again. It lasted only about a second, but I think it was more running than he did in the first two episodes. Which is just kind of--un-Doctor. It's what the Doctor does, he runs. Or at least it's what he's been doing in New Who in both previous regenerations. You're never going to get the same dynamic in the new season if you let your Doctor just stand there all the time.
I have to say, I do like the idea that Eleven's sort of going, phew. My tenth regeneration was just me getting hurt, all the time--I think I'm going to hang back a little for a while, try to get myself sorted out a little. But he needs to get over that eventually, because nobody likes a static, inactive main character. He needs to get his act together and start taking action again. And stop talking. Seriously, the next episode that consists to 85% of exposition talk I'm going to stab with an ice pick.
As for the actual plot of the episode; I don't quite understand why this had to be Winston Churchill and WWII. If you're going to do WWII, do it the way Human Nature did WWI--address the human tragedy that any war represents, and don't try to glorify it and make it into some noble sort of adventure that had to be overcome to save the Empire. I see this tendency in Moffat; having recently rewatched Empty Child/The Doctor Dances, I remember that in that episode, Nine had this stupid speech he gives to the kid about how Britain wins the war and defeats the Nazis--as if there were something noble or patriotic or honorable in getting your country bombed to pieces because you didn't agree to contribute to global war and genocide. I'm not saying that the victims of the Blitz shouldn't be honored, I'm saying that writing nostalgic and sentimental television episodes about it isn't honoring the dead, it's trivializing their deaths. And yes, I know that Moffat didn't write this episode, but he's still setting the tone of the show. And I didn't like the tone of this episode.
In conclusion, I am getting really impatient with this season. Get some action in there, will you? Right now, I'm feeling like I'm watching a string of filler episodes like Fear Her and The Idiot's Lantern--just another Who, not completely unpleasant, but nothing to write home about. Sigh.
comment on LJ
no subject
I made the mistake of watching it with my family so had to listen to my dad and brother wet themselves laughing talking about all the various military mistakes :P The flying space-planes proved too much for them both really (suspension of disbelief bypassed them completely :P)
The only bit I wasn't as keen on was the way random lance corporal ("Ahh, a Lance-Corporal...so many of them in the RAF" ~ Dad) woman's boyfriend kept getting mentioned and then died, so whoever he was he was clearly someone that will become important later on (probably in relation to the whole Amy not remembering the Daleks thing) or perhaps not...but the continuous mentionings were annoying :S
Oh, and the Doctor was a bit of a bugger too.
Plus the little progenitor device... I thought it was a baby dalek and then it would be all babyfied and scooting around trying to exterminate things in a haze of "Oh its so cute, but it'll grow up and kill us all!" In my defense, I had spent all day on a steam train in the North York moors getting blinded by the sun.
So yeah, I enjoyed the episode actually! Not in a "this is the best thing ever!" kind of way, but still enjoyed it :D
no subject
I don't really mind talking so much, as the fact that they keep telling and not showing. Like the German air squad over the Channel thing. Apparently there actually was one coming in, but they only mentioned it once, very briefly, and there were no reactions or consequences. Blink-and-you-miss-it tension. They can talk all they want, but if there's actually something happening, I want to see it happen.
The only bit I wasn't as keen on was the way random lance corporal woman's boyfriend kept getting mentioned and then died
Yeah, that was odd. I have no idea why that was important. Another instance of telling-not-showing, though. "Hi, by the way, folks, this lance corporal dude died! Please remember that, it'll become important later.". If they want it to be a surprise that it'll get mentioned again, they need to make it matter when it happens, so people won't go, bzuh? What was that about? Guess it'll be important later on.
I don't know, I actually didn't mind the Doctor in this episode too much. I did mind that he was randomly on first-names term with Churchill and apparently supported him unquestioningly, which I can't see the Doctor being and doing. But other than that, I like the idea of Eleven trying to stay out of things, because not staying out of things was what got his tenth regeneration fucked over again and again. Of course, this would actually have to end up being a full-season character arc, and idk if Moffat will do that. It'd be nice if he did, though. Maybe he will.
Lol @ your brother and your dad. That must have been so annoying, lol. And probably quite funny, too. ;)
no subject
Yeah, I picked up on the mention of it and there was sort of "Oh my golly gosh, London's going to be bombed!" kind of reactions going on but nothing much - no civvies were shown or harmed in the making of this episode :P
Lol @ your brother and your dad. That must have been so annoying, lol. And probably quite funny, too. ;)
Lol yup! Its hard to concentrate and keep a straight face when there's two of them going "oh hard cheeeese old boy!" everytime there was a character with a remotely posh accent on!