doctor who

Doctor Who, "The Big Bang"

Doctor: “We’re all stories in the end. Just make it a good one, eh?” “The Big Bang” opens not where we left off last week, but rather on a scene repeated from the season’s first episode: Amelia Pond praying for someone to come and close the crack in her bedroom wall. This time, however, there is no Doctor. In a therapy session, Amelia paints a picture of the night sky, the moon surrounded by stars — her own version of van Gogh’s The Starry Night. When asked what she’s drawn, Amelia calmly explains that they’re stars. “Oh,...

Continue reading...

Doctor Who, "The Lodger" and "The Pandorica Opens"

Craig: “Has anyone ever told you you’re a bit weird?” Doctor: “They never really stop.” So. I’m a little behind on these Doctor Who posts, and I apologize. It’s been a bit of a week for the Viola household. The season is finishing on a strong note, however, as we’ve had three great episodes in a row if we include “Vincent and the Doctor” from a few weeks ago. Let’s start with “The Lodger,” shall we? I adored this episode — it’s probably my favorite of the season so far. The episode that airs in this slot...

Continue reading...

Doctor Who, "Vincent and the Doctor"

Doctor: “Is this how time normally passes? Really slowly, and in the proper order?” “Vincent and the Doctor” was a lovely episode, full of great moments, and the tone felt appropriate after last week’s loss of Rory. Amy is in mourning though she doesn’t even realize it, and she finally makes a human connection with Vincent that I think has been lacking for her all season. As the Doctor joked, a child produced by Amy and Vincent would have been the ultimate ginger…

Continue reading...

Doctor Who, "Cold Blood"

Doctor, to Ambrose: \”You are so much less than the best of humanity!\” While I enjoyed \”Cold Blood\” much more than part one, \”The Hungry Earth,\” I don\’t have much to say about it save for the final scene. After Ambrose kills Alaya, negotiations between the Silurians and the humans fall apart. The Doctor forces the Silurians to go back into hibernation for another 1,000 years and hopes that when they wake, the humans will be ready to make peace. The Doctor, Amy, and Rory rush back to the surface to escape in the TARDIS, but when...

Continue reading...

Doctor Who, "Amy's Choice"

Doctor: “This is going to be a tricky one.” Doctor Who returned this weekend after a short break with a strong episode that I’m late reviewing because my laptop was in the laptop hospital for most of the weekend. “Amy’s Choice” was an exploration of one of the major ongoing conflicts this season: will Amy choose a life of adventure with the Doctor or settle down for a quiet country life with Rory?

Continue reading...

Doctor Who, "The Vampires of Venice"

Rory: \”You have no idea how dangerous you make people to themselves  when you\’re around.\” First off, apologies to any readers (cue the sound of crickets) for the late recap. The alien story this week was mostly forgettable, save for the wonderful performance from Helen McCrory as Rosanna, but the interaction between the Doctor and Rory was a highlight. I was expecting the Doctor-Amy-Rory triangle to be a retread of the Doctor-Rose-Mickey situation, but Rory is much more of a Jackie Tyler than a Mickey Smith. Rory calls the Doctor out on exactly what makes him so...

Continue reading...

Doctor Who, "Flesh and Stone"

Doctor: “I’ll be back for you as soon as I can, I promise.” Amy: “You always say that.” Doctor: “I always come back.” We’re five episodes into this season, and I feel like I need some sort of flow chart to keep track of what’s going on. This was a great conclusion to the new chapter of the Weeping Angels story, but many other questions were brought up in this hour that we likely won’t get an answer to until the season finale.

Continue reading...

Doctor Who, "The Time of Angels"

The Doctor: “The writing. The graffiti. Old High Gallifreyan! The lost language of the Time Lords. There were days—there were many days—these words could burn stars, and raise up empires, and topple gods.” Amy: “What does this say?” The Doctor: “‘Hello, Sweetie.’” Well, that was perhaps the best intro to a Doctor Who episode that I’ve ever seen. From the first moment she’s onscreen, River Song is clearly a brilliant, fearless woman who can hold her own against the Doctor. I’m sure even those who had never seen “Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead” were intrigued...

Continue reading...

Doctor Who, "Victory of the Daleks"

Amy: “Ever fancied someone you knew you shouldn’t? Hurts, doesn’t it? But kind of a good hurt.” This was by far my least favorite of the three new episodes we’ve seen so far this season. I’ll skip going into detail about the plot this week because basically it revolves around the Daleks coming back (yet again) and the Doctor being forced to choose between saving humans or destroying his oldest enemies. Was there really any doubt about what he would do? More discussion after the jump. I continue to find the relationship between Amy and the Doctor...

Continue reading...

Doctor Who, "The Beast Below"

Amy: So there are other Time Lords, yeah? Doctor: No. There were, but there aren’t… Just me now. Long story. It was a bad day. Bad stuff happened. And you know what, I’d love to forget it all, every last bit of it. But I don’t. Not ever. We got a strong introduction to both the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond last week, and this week we got to see more of the Doctor from Amy’s point of view. By now, the audience basically knows the Doctor’s history, and we see bits of Eleven’s personality taking over...

Continue reading...