TV: Doctor Who: Cold Blood
I’m quite surprised that I’m way in the minority in my enjoyment of this two-parter. Great episodes? No. But much better than the crud that came before it.
It seems that the rest of Whoville thought it was boring. Boring!
Hmm. Now I have plenty of nits to pick but these are the things that kept this episode out of the negative side of the fence for me:
Political Dilemmas
I do think it’s possible, should aliens ever arrive, that some random people are going to have to represent Man until formal introductions are made. That fascinates me. I’m sure Nasreen and Amy didn’t really think they were going to be the final word, but as it is with diplomats at the negotiating table anywhere, you do what you can to bring a favorable and workable treaty back home. They took it seriously, and I applaud that.
The Inspirational Doctor
The Doctor gets his swagger back. He’s excited about the things these humans can do, and he wants them to do it. The Doctor that’s been dealing with the broken Amy has not been this enjoyable.
Nasreen and Rory
In this one, they both were inspired by the Doctor. They are two different companion models, and they both work better as companions than Amy does.
(Amy seems less of a companion and more of a you-broke-her-you-bought-her. What does she bring to the relationship with him? with us? One liners do not a personality make.)
Nasreen and Rory both appreciated the adventure and tried to do their bests during it.
I’m a character and plot person, but if I had to rank these elements, I’ll go ahead and take good characterization and character development over plot.
And now the negatives:
- Changing the rules of the Crack as you go. Boo!
- Two Rory deaths in what are essentially back-to-back episodes?
- One dimensional characters, such as all the women except Nasreen. And yes, that includes Amy.
- One of the good guys kidnaps people and cuts them open while they are awake. I don’t understand why the Doctor loves him or why we are supposed to be on his side.
Without being spoiled, I hear that the next two episodes are outstanding so I’m going to keep the faith, but I’m confounded that the Moffat team wants to take on time as a Big Bad on a time travel show.
“Time can be rewritten.” Indeed, but to make that the theme of the season is super risky. I doubt there’s ever been a person or team in the history of serial storytelling that can be mistake-free in this concept.
Already, no one believes that Rory is staying dead. Plus, if he’s never existed, Amy should be a different person from here on out because we’re all a product of the people we know.
What about Amy’s Choice? Same adventure, completely different meaning? What was the alternative dreamscape then?
I’m also not certain I like what this means for the Doctor. He’s broken Amy. He brings Rory along to try and fix that mess-up while hoping that they’ll get together. Now Rory’s gone, and Amy’s entire trajectory needs to be reconceived.
The Doctor’s really not doing so hot this season. If this all ends in a time reboot, fans, possibly including me, are going to be livid. That’s such a cop out.
is not a biography. It mostly provides an overview of Napoleonic France during Napoleon’s reign. When one reads this book though, it doesn’t really seem possible to separate out the man from the era.