Dr. Who. So, Spoilers!

[kriadydragon]

I liked the new episode. I liked it a lot. Liked the story, liked the companion, and loved how much it felt like the Dr. Who I'm personally used to from when I first got sucked into the show. As fun as Dr. Who continued to be when Eleven arrived, I could never quite get as into as I did when it was Nine and Ten. Not because it was a new Doctor but because... well, it ended up being quite a few things, really. For one, the pacing of a lot of episodes always felt too quick to me, like the show was trying to cram too much into one little episode and not really giving it the time it needed to build. For another, I often felt like it was trying too hard to be whimsical and as a result tended to border on the really ridiculous (even for Dr. Who). Then there was Amy. Don't get me wrong, I did like Amy and loved Amy and Rory. But there were times when it felt too much like the Amy and Rory show, or the rescue-Amy-once-again show. Amy was great at the start of Eleven's first season, solving mysteries and helping out like past companions always did. But then it just seemed to reach this point in which Amy wasn't much help at all except on rare occasions because she was too busy needing to be rescued. I also wasn't too fond of the way the show seemed to portray Amy as the penultimate companion (although I do think the show did tone it down a bit once it was Amy and Rory instead of just Amy).

But with this episode, we had great pacing, good build-up, a really interesting situation, and the companion (although, yes, she was in need of rescuing) actually contributing in a very clever way (heee, Facebook :D. That was awesome).

And, of course, if you disagree that's fine. We all see things how we see things, and this was how I personally saw things. I'm quite excited about this season of Dr. Who and I hope that what we got in this episode we get in the episodes to come.

Comments

[x-erikah-x.livejournal.com]

I really liked the episode too. Clara is very intriguing and I can't wait to find out more about her. I like how so far she has been able to stand as her own companion instead of falling into the pit of "companions that followed supposedly badass previous companions" like Russel did with Martha following Rose. I think I'll like Clara more than I did Amy in this case too.

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

I like how so far she has been able to stand as her own companion instead of falling into the pit of "companions that followed supposedly badass previous companions" like Russel did with Martha following Rose.

Yes! I hadn't noticed that but, yeah. Nice to see a complete lack of companion-pining. As much as I loved Ten the Rose-pining did get old fast. I also like that, thus far, Clara, though flirtatious from time to time, overall wasn't coming across as another potential love-sick companion. I like the companions much better when they aren't romantically interested in the Doctor.

[musica-diabolos.livejournal.com]

I agree with you! I loved season 5, but I felt season 6 and the first half of 7 got too...messy. Too big! But this episode focused on smaller emotions, I felt, and gave Clara a chance to save the world, which I always love with companions. I was very fond of Amy, but again, I agree about her losing her usefulness. I also love the maternal qualities of Clara which make her stand out, it's not something any of the others had. She feels independant :)

[kriadydragon.livejournal.com]

She feels independant

Oh, definitely! In fact I really liked how the episode ended with Clara not saying yes right off the bat to traveling, but that she'll think about it. I like how down-to-earth she is, where she's wowed by all things related to the Doctor, which is to be expected, but quick to go with the flow and do what needs to be done. And I find her story line thus far to be the most intriguing (besides Donna's, that is. Donna's story arc was pretty awesome, even if it ended sadly).

This is probably just my opinion but I think the companions who aren't infatuated with the Doctor make the best companions. Not that the others were bad, but that particular story arc does get tiresome pretty fast.

[musica-diabolos.livejournal.com]

Yes! The Donna/Doctor friendship was definitely one of the best parts of the show :)